TMNT: White Nirvana
by Raph84
Summary: Set in the old days of Mirage, after the appearance of a dangerous new drug on the streets of New York, Casey Jones pushes the wrong person's buttons. This leads to events that will test the Turtles as a family as they try to rid the streets of this poison, White Nirvana.
1. Prologue

TMNT:White Nirvana

Prologue

Again. Leonardo had made them train all day long. He was tired and he was annoyed with his brothers. How many times had Michaelangelo cracked some stupid joke? How many times had Donatello had some smart remark about his technique? Leonardo, the worst. How many times had he given a speech trying to mimic Splinter and teach some lesson? These thoughts were blazing through Raphael`s mind as he walked through the sewers headed for the ladder that would take him to the surface, the place he felt more at home.

Sloshing through the waters of the sewer he stretched and rubbed his left shoulder, the one Michaelangelo had given a serious stretch throwing him before Raphael had clocked him upside the head with his sai. Leonardo was furious and sent Raphael out of the dojo to cool off. It was an accident but Leonardo couldn't understand the anger, the boiling in Raphael`s blood even when things were calm. Casey was the only one who understood. He'd go visit him, spend some time cooling off and come back and maybe apologize to poor Mikey.

He made it to the ladder and stood a moment looking up at the lid before finally making his way up and out. Instanly the air filled his nostrils and the wind hit his face. If he wasn't so angry he might have grinned at the pleasure he felt getting out of the stagnant air of the sewers. The night was quiet. This particular exit rested in the center of a back alley between two abandoned businesses, perfect for staying out of sight. He took a quick glance around, it had rained leaving everything around him soaked but overhead the stars were out. It was a muggy Summer night but it still felt good. He quickly replaced the sewer lid and made a quick dash for the closest of the two buildings which had a fire escape he had to jump to climb onto, no challenge for someone as trained as he.

He climbed the stairs at a fast pace and was on the roof in seconds. He looked out from the edge of the building and spotted no one. With great speed he ran and leapt the gap to the opposite building and then to the next. On and on he did this making his way towards the building Casey lived in. Over and over he replayed the hit he'd dealt Michaelangelo. It could have been serious but Mikey played it off like nothing. It was Leonardo who exploded on him, throwing the last time something like this had happened in his face like always. He didn't hate Mikey, it was just that he had a way of crawling under his skin like no one else could and for a moment he forgot what he was doing and struck out.

He sped up. Maybe he was trying to flee what he'd done? It didn't matter, he just wanted to get out, see Casey and get some shut-eye. Casey would understand. The various pipes, water towers, heating and cooling units and steam vents of the rooftops passed him by. The wind was at his face and the air cooled the sweat of his skin. Freedom, or as close as Raphael could find.

At the pace he made, Raphael made it to the same block as Casey`s building in just under an hour, pretty good for being on foot. Once he made it to the rooftop of his destination, he paced a bit back and forth, hands on his hips, trying to catch his breath before he would make his way down the fire escape to Casey`s apartment. He tightened his bandanna, and the straps of his elbow and kneepads, all loosened in the run, and finally started down the stairs. After a couple of flights he found Casey`s window, the lights were out but the light of his television could be seen coming from the corner of the room.

Raphael tapped on the closed window. No response. He tapped harder. No respone. This time he punched the window with the side of his fist, a spike of frustration. No response.

"Yo, Casey. Come and open the window ya jerk!" He shouted. There was a groan, low and long and a loud crash as the light of the television vanished. Raphael quickly drew the sais from his belt and without hesitation hammered the hilts of his weapons into the glass which gave and shattered. He was inside in a flash at the ready for a fight but he wasn't greeted by some foe but the sight of Casey lieing on the floor beside his television, the screen against the floor. His face looked like pulp, blood everywhere. He was wearing only a pair of boxer shorts and the bruises on his back. He was still groaning when Raphael ran to him and put his hand on Casey`s shoulder, shifting one sai back in his belt. Now he saw that the whole room was trashed, the evidence of a fight, and there on the wall in a deep shade of purple a dragon insignia.

Casey looked up into the turtles eyes and in a horrible wrasp cried out. "Purple...Dragons."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Three Nights Ago

"Goongala!" Casey Jones was leaping from the top of a dumpster in a dark alley. He held his hockey stick high over his head. On the ground were three of the worthless scum pushing dope on these streets. It was time the poison was taken out. He slammed the stick down across the back of the farthest man, his bald head bobbing as he fell from the force of the blow. The other two, a tall man in a yellow colored jacket and the other a shorter man in a green basketball jersey.

As soon as Casey`s feet were on the ground and the bald man was done, he turned to the man in green as he drew two baseball bats from the golf bag on his back. He adjusted the old hockey mask he wore as he stepped forward.

"Listen up scumbags, I'm tired of your junk on these streets. You ain't welcome here so let me show you the way out. Casey Jones style!" He ran forward, basebball bats in each hand, and simultaneously busted the man in green directly in the teeth while clipping the knee of the man in yellow. Green was on the ground, holding his mouth, muffling screams of pain. The man in yellow faltered but stayed on his feet and quickly drew a gun from underneath his jacket. Pointing it at Casey.

"Foreign object, disqualification!" Like a bolt of lightning Casey lunged and smacked at the arm with the gun. The man in yellow tensed, pulling the trigger shooting a round into the air as Casey drove his knee hard into the man`s stomach. He leaned forward, vomit escaping his lips, just before Casey slammed one of his bats down on the man`s head. He stood, victorious, looking over his victims. The man in green was still holding his mouth, whimpering from the pain. Casey noticed him and walked over so that he stood over his downed foe. Placing one of the bats back in the bag he grabbed the man by his shirt and half picked him up off the ground.

"You can talk?" Casey barked. The man nodded and squeeked out "Yesth."

" March your ass back to the people who pay you to push this garbage and tell them Casey Jones said they ain't welcome. I catch you out here again and it'll be more than teeth I bust. Understand?" The man nodded. Casey, happy with the outcome, started searching his pockets and found packets of whatever junk this was and put them in his pocket. With as much strength as he had he yanked the man up to his feet and threw him forward. The man took off running as fast as he could, still holding his mouth.

Once the man in green was out of sight, Casey looked down at the little bags of dope. They were full of a pale powdery substance. He shook his head as he walked out of the alley, in the opposite direction of the man in green, and removed his mask. He tossed the little baggies into his golf bag and started his jog back home. It was late so not much was going on in the streets as he made his way. His mind began replaying things.

For the past two months drugs had taken off in the streets of New York. He wasn't a big enough force to completely push the dealers, pushers and dope fiends out but he'd made a serious dent now. Almost every night he'd stopped some sort of deal and put every one of the scum out of commosion or sent them back in similar fashion to the man in green. It was small but he could see a difference coming over things. Between the work he and the turtles had done and yeah, even the police, it was helping.

At last he had made it home just before the sun had begun to climb up and above the tall buildings surrounding his little apartment complex. Like he owned the place he unlocked the door to the lobby, what was left of it, and started up the creaky, filthy stairs. He'd lived here a while now and where most people would complain about how dilapidated things were here, Casey felt fine. All he needed was a cold shower, some left over take-out and some sleep, where didn't matter.

He opened the door to his apartment and, closing the door, walked in. It was a single room with his bed, a couple of matresses on the floor, in one corner and the little television on a short stand in the opposite corner, his nasty but crazy comfortable recliner in front of the t.v. The kitchen part of the room was left of his bed, behind the recliner, where there was a sink and stove and refrigerator, all in very used condition. As much as sitting and resting was on his mind Casey made straight for the little bathroom to the right of him, the door being right at the foot of his bed. He removed his golfbag and searched for the packets and once located ripped them open and like every one he'd found before, dumped the contents into the water of his disgusting toilet and flushed, tossing the bags in just in time for them to go down as well. A quick bite to eat and a glass of water from his kitchen sink and he was face down in his bed, not even bothering to cover up with the sheets.

He slept for nearly nine hours before waking up. He rubbed at his face and streched his muscular arms as he stood and finally kicked off his shoes. He lay down in the floor and shoving his toes under his matress, started doing sit-ups. After a hundred of those he flopped over and did one hundred push-ups, a bit of sweat starting down his back. It was all routine after that, lift weights, hit the streets and jog for an hour, lift more weights. Finally he was resting, watching some cheesy action film from his recliner, while lifting one of his dumbbells when a woman`s face appeared, a news broadcast.

"We interrupt your regular scheduled programming to bring you a quick news update. Earlier this morning twelve men were found bound and gagged in the middle of Central Park with over four pounds of the current "In" drug, white nirvana. Police recieved the report only four hours ago when a jogger heard the muffled cries of the men. When Police arrived on the scene they found the jogger beaten nearly to death and several men setting the captive men free. A firefight insued and one policeman was killed, three wounded but are expected to live. The "white nirvana," a new crossbreed of cocaine, was found after the firefight, however the assailants did manage to escape custody. We will bring you more news as it comes in. This is Tina Okawa, Channel Six News."

A smirk crossed Casey`s face. He knew who'd tied those men and he felt a bit of pride at being on the same side as the turtles. A shame they escaped. Hopefully he'd get to meet some of them soon enough.

He relaxed the rest of the day until finally the sun went down and as the dark of night steadily cloaked the city Casey prepared himself. He stretched and did a few push-ups to get the blood flowing and finally around nine or so, put on his bag, checked his weapons and put them in the bag and the final touch, put on his mask. Casey Jones was ready.

After seeing the news report, Casey knew the action would probably be in Central Park and he also wanted to take a peek at that crime scene. Central Park was quite a ways away so he would have to get moving. He started to go the easy exit and leaned out of his apartment door and sure enough heard voices trailing up the stairs. The other tennants were probably chatting it up in the lobby. Can't go that way. He closed his door and locked it and made for the window he left unlocked for Raphael. He bent low and stepped out onto the fire escape and made it to street level with incredible speed.

Taking a bus or taxi cab would have gotten him to the park in no time but with his gear he would be noticed and he just couldn't have that. He would rather no one innocent be involved. They can't give information to a possible enemy if they don't know anything, or so his logic told him. With that in mind he started jogging at a good pace, the night air filling his lungs. The old buildings in his neighborhood passed him by filling him with memories of some of his first nights fighting the scum. He laughed at some of those first encounters and the way he was made fun of...at first, then he showed what he could do and broke one of the guys hands with pure grip. That shut them up.

Rain started to fall. Gentle at first but it began to come harder as his journey continued. Cars passed by but he had taken his mask off earlier, in case he was seen. He tried to stick to alleys and out of the way places but sometimes he had no choice but to run alongside the main streets and once near the park there was nowhere to hide. He scrambled across the streets through the crosswalks, weaving through the small groups of people, golfbag bobbing up and down with his strides. At last he was in the park, breathing hard from the long run. He chose a nice hidden spot and sat down among some bushes, just to catch his breath before he got to work, just in case he needed his strength.

The rains had stopped and with the Summer heat steam was rolling off everything, including Casey. After about ten minutes his breathing had eased and he felt rested again. He pulled his mask from his bag and drew his hockey stick and made his way through the bush. Going off the pictures on the news report he'd seen, he knew the general area of where the crime scene was. He'd been here enough to know, lots of bad people used to come here, now not so much. He moved through the trees, the brush and stayed low. He was still pretty clumsy but for the most part he was well out of sight. When he got to the crime scene there was one cop still on duty. He was a chubby fellow all in uniform, sitting with one leg crossed over the other reading a newspaper shaking his head. His back was to the crime scene, perfect.

Casey slowly edged his way over behind the cop who continued to read, making a clicking noise with his tongue. After a few minutes stealth Casey was finally behind the cop and about to make his dash to cross the police line when the cop suddenly stood up and looked around. Casey froze, not making a sound. The cop stared right at him for just a moment before turning away and going to one of the nearby bushes and relieving himself. Casey sighed with relief as the cop returned to his metal chair and his paper. Into the police line Casey went, not sure what he was looking for. Any evidence had long been taken in so all that was left were the marks showing where the downed policeman`s body had once lain. There was really nothing else to look at so Casey started to leave when something caught his eye. Movement in one of the bushes to his left. He couldn't make it out in the low light of the park but someone had seen him and turned away, the cop still oblivious. With the best stealth he could manage Casey gave chase.

He searched for a full hour, maybe more, but never found any trace of who had been watching him. He was in the park so he figured he may as well patrol here tonight, even though it wasn't likely anyone would try anything with an officer somewhere in the park. He spent the better part of two hours just strolling around, staying in sight of the park`s paths, but hidden. He gave it up in the end and decided to go back into the alleyways and see if anything showed up there. He once more took off the mask to blend in and made his way out of the park and across the now almost empty streets, seeing only a few people now. He worked his way through alleyways he hadn't visited in some time and made sure things were quiet, ever moving in the direction of home, moving much slower now. Finally the Sun was rising and so he took off his mask and returned to his home.

That day went much like the one before it save that Casey got up around one o' clock and went to Mr. Chow`s grocery. In exchange for groceries Mr. Chow would let Casey sweep the floors and stock the shelves a couple times a week and at home Casey`s food store was almost gone. He worked until six o'clock and returned home with a few days worth of food. After a quick bite he went to his workout routine since he'd missed it to go work.

It was around nine that someone gently knocked on his door. Still shirtless and covered in sweat Casey answered, a moment`s weakness. As soon as his door was open a fist almost as big as his head caught him full force in the face. He fell back three feet and landed at the foot of his bed. He could already feel his left cheek tightening and blood trickled from his left nostril. He wasn't fazed. Quick as a shot he was up and had hold of one of his bats, his bag propped against the bathroom doorframe. He looked to his door and there stood a mountain of a man. Huge with blonde hair and coiling down his left arm was a huge tattoo from shoulder to wrist of a purple serpentine dragon.

"I don't know who you are," Casey said, twirling his bat, "but you come to the wrong room." He lunged forward, the huge man squeezing in through the door and catching Casey`s arm as he tried to swing for the mountain`s head. The big man was unbelievably fast and no matter how much Casey bragged, his enemy had the element of surprise. With his hand still around Casey`s wrist he lifted him off his feet and threw him full force across the room into the television stand. As Casey was rising to his feet, hurt but ready to fight the big man leaned against the bathroom door.

"He's all yours. Have fun." Said the mountain in a voice deep and rumbling and in came the man in green, still in the same clothes, along with seven others all holding various bats, clubs, pieces of pipe; anything they could use. Casey didn't hesitate at the sight. He twirled his bat and with a roar jumped into the group of men.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Now

The rain was pouring again and Raphael, as fast as he could, was leaping the gaps of buildings flying rooftop to rooftop, Casey Jones cradled in his arms, unconscious. The small pools of water developing on the rooftops erupted with the force of Raphael`s weight slamming into them, ignoring the water splashing all up and down his legs, the rain filling his eyes and covering him. Sometimes he had to shift poor Casey to swing from some a pipe or climb down and up when the gaps were too much He knew time was of the essence and Casey was in a bad way. Before he had decided to take him to Donatello, Raphael quickly wrapped an old shirt around Casey`s head to try and slow the bleeding, leaving only his mouth uncovered so he could breathe. It was crude but all he could think of in such a rush.

Raphael continued to run as hard as he could, the buildings were staying close enough that his leaps weren't too strenuous but it was taking a toll. The added weight of Casey wasn't something he'd trained for and his breathing was harsh and labored, but on he trekked, for the sake of his friend.

That's when it happened, what with the combination of the rain in his eyes, the labor of carrying Casey and jumping and running and climbing. all on surfaces slick from rain. He made a jump just a hair too soon. His right foot slipped on the building`s ledge just as his weight shifted and the jump went sloppy. He knew what had happened instantly and the consequence about to strike him. He shifted as best he could to turn around and curl into a ball as he fell, his shell facing the ground. He only fell some twelve feet, he was in the abandoned business area now, but it was enough. With a loud, hard crash his speed drove him hard into a pile of trash and old trash cans, one of the lids busting him hard in the lip, jarring his teeth. The fall was cushioned by the refuse but still yet the force was enough to knock the wind out of him. Casey seemed okay, Raphael had pulled him close to his chest as they had fallen

For a moment Raphael lay there in a heap, Casey draped over him like some strange sheet. It was almost comical if the situation wasn't so dire. Raphael got to his feet, the air returning to his lungs, and quickly gathered Casey back into his arms. Casey was still breathing and even managed a moan, signs of life yet. Raphael took a few steps and realized the foot that had slipped had twisted and pain shot all through his leg. He faltered and sucked air through his teeth. He caught himself by falling shell first against the wall.

"Damn!" He roared. Could nothing go right? The rain was still pouring, his thoughts spiraling into darkness. Now wasn't the time for self pity. He pushed himself away from the wall and tried walking again, this time taking caution with his right foot. He had to hobble but it worked and around fifteen minutes later, with Casey draped over his shell like some weird cape, he made the long climb down the sewer entrance. From there it was just a five minute walk to the old wooden door where he and his brothers lived. He picked up the pace as best he could. He was exhausted, his breathing came in deep, harsh gasps. He kept having to shift Casey, his arms to the point of breaking carrying the weight. These last feet of the journey were the worst, even over the buildings. He staggered and finally, there was the door. Turning his right shoulder and falling into the door he crashed into the living room of the tunnels he and his family called home. His momentum carried him in and down, slamming through the old coffee table right in front of the couch where Michaelangelo sat reading a comic book, still icing the purple mark on his right cheek from his encounter with Raphael.

"Whoa!" Michaelangelo shouted, leaping up and instinct forcing him to draw one of his nunchaku, twirling it to the side, when realization came over him at the sight of Raphael. Leonardo and Donatello came rushing in from the kitchen off to the side, weapons at the ready, when the realization struck them as well. They quickly sheathed their weapons and turned Raphael over and there found Casey wrapped in his strange garb, the deep red of blood on the soaked shirt told them enough of what they needed to know. Leonardo and Donatello quickly moved Casey onto the couch, Michaelangelo helping Raphael to his feet. He was awake but breathing harder than Michaelangelo had ever seen anyone breathe. He was bruised in a few places and his lip was bleeding, he'd been through the ringer. He sat him down in the big chair at the end of the now demolished table.

The room was silent except for Raphael`s heavy breathing as Donatello slowly began unraveling the shirt Raphael had used to cover Casey`s face. Donatello sucked air through his teeth at the sight that greeted him when he at last removed the bloody cloth. He looked up at Leonardo who was now leaning over his shoulder, hands on his knees.

"This is way beyond me, Leo. He needs some serious medical attention." Donatello said, throwing his right hand up to indicate the above ground. Leonardo nodded and without a word ran to the old payphone hanging from the wall around the corner from the now open doorway. He began frantically dialing as Michaelangelo came to Donatello`s side and put a hand on his brother`s shell as he took a knee beside him.

"Donnie, you don't think?" He left the rest unsaid and looked towards Raphael, still half unconscious in the big chair.

"You're right," Donnie replied, "I don't think. Quick, run and get bandages out of the kit in the dojo. I gotta try and stop some of this bleeding and get him ready to move to a hospital. Go!" There was urgency in his voice and Michaelangelo was moving quick towards the dojo at the rear of the long tunnel, finally remembering to sheath his nunchaku after all the excitement. The hole they lived in was a wide dead end of a room probably once a storage area before the city had changed how sewage was dealt with. It was circular and wide and the Turtles, as well as Splinter, had turned it into a cosey place to live. Past the living room and kitchen was the dojo and the short hall leading to the room where they all slept. Michaelangelo quickly entered the dojo with it`s padded floors, weight bench and dummies Donatello had rigged up from the various garbage he always seemed to find. There on the wall was the emergency kit they had decided to keep nearby when their training had gotten much more serious as they aged.

In an instant Michaelangelo had grabbed the kit and was opening it en route before returning to his kneeling position beside Donatello, kicking some of the debris of the table out of his way as he came. He could hear Leonardo wrapping things up with April.

"Yeah. Yeah. We'll see you there, April. Thanks again," he was saying. While the other two were working to wrap Casey`s wounds, Leonardo stood watching. He was silent as his brothers worked, Donatello instructing Michaelangelo where to hold his hands while he did the wrapping. When they were finally done poor Casey looked like a mummy from some low budget movie, but the bleeding had slowed drastically. As soon as they were done Leonardo came up beside Donatello.

"April is going to be waiting at the storm drain on the corner." Leonardo said. " Get Casey there as quick as you can. Hopefully Father will be home soon. I'll stay with Raphael." Donatello grunted and looking around him quickly formed an idea.

"Mikey," he was saying, "give me a hand. We may as well put whats left of the table here to good use." He pulled the tabletop, which had managed to survive save for a splintered board on one end, out of the debris. Michaelangelo understood and the two got on either end of Casey`s limp form and picked him up and lowered him onto the table. Donatello then went to one of the shelves in the kitchen and brought a couple lengths of rope. "Told ya these would come in handy." He managed to pull a grin from his brothers as he handed one of the lengths to Michaelanegelo and both carefully secured the lengths of rope around the ends of the homemade stretcher and lifted Casey up using the ends of their respective ropes. They were about to leave when Leonardo held up a hand.

"Wait," he said. He went to the couch and grabbed the yellow blanket spread over the back of it and threw it over Casey and gave them a nod. Without a word the two were out the door, Leonardo could hear their footsteps sloshing in the waters of the sewer, slowly fading. As soon as the footsteps faded he turned his attention to Raphael. He was coming around, staring at the floor. Leonardo said nothing and stood where he was until finally Raphael, his breathing under control looked up.

"Leo," Raphael said, his voice weak with exhaustion. "Is Casey gonna be okay? " He slowly rose to his feet. His foot was still aching but must not have been as bad as he thought, the pain wasn't nearly as bad, his arms were another story. They ached like they used to when the training was more of a challenge on his muscles. Leonardo was looking at him, his arms crossed. "What?"

"I don't even know what to say to you right now." Leo said in an icy tone. "You have got to get this temper of yours under control!" He was half shouting. Raphael looked down for a second, his blood starting to boil.

"You don't think-?" Raphael stopped, the look on Leonardo`s face told him everything he needed to know. The outrage at such an accusation was an affront. His blood wasn't boiling now, it was steaming. His hands balled into fists that he brought up next to his head to either side of his face. "You," was all he could say through his gritted teeth. He looked around and reached over to the rickety bookshelf beside the chair he so recently occupied. With all the strength he had left in his right arm he took hold of the edge nearest him and shoved the bookcase until it was up and flipping, books flying everywhere, the shelf tearing itself apart as it fell and tumbled against the back wall.

"See?" Leonardo said. "You get upset and destroy, that's Raphael. I want you out of my sight. When Father comes home, he and I will discuss what to do about you. As far as I'm concerned, you're no longer a part of this family!" He was shouting now. His own anger was getting the best of him but he had tried and tried to be patient with his brother, tried to be understanding of the pain, the anger that Raphael kept within until it burst from him like it was now. Splinter had called it outcries for help but to Leonardo they looked more like tantrums. He sighed a long sigh, trying to get a handle on himself and already regretting his words. "Just…go." Raphael started for the door much like a bull for a matador but just as he was about to turn the corner, out of sight, he stopped and turned back to his brother.

"It was the Purple Dragons, Leo." Raphael said. "They hurt Casey bad and when I find them, they're gonna pay." Leonardo turned to respond but it was too late, he was gone. He ran to the door and called aloud to his brother but no response. He stood a moment staring after the ghost of Raphael before finally going back inside and throwing himself into the big chair. He sat for some time, his arm resting on the chair arm, resting his forehead against the palm of his hand when his other brothers finally returned. Donatello entered first and seeing the debris in the corner of the room made a high whistling sound.

"Raphael?" Michaelangelo said, guessing. Leonardo nodded and stood up. The three stood, Leonardo staring at the floor, the others staring at him. Finally Leonardo looked up and spoke.

"It wasn't Raph, it was the Purple Dragons. I blamed him. I even told him he was out of the family-" Another whistle from Donatello. Michaelangelo slapped at Donatello`s arm to quiet him as Leo went on. "Father is still out on his exercises. We can't wait any longer. Casey is out of our hands but Raphael we may still catch. He's going after the Purple Dragons for revenge and I plan to stop him."

Silence. Finally Donatello, leaning on his bo, answered first; "Where do we start?"


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Exhaustion

Raphael was finally out of the sewers and back on the streets. The adrenaline spike he'd gotten from Leonardo`s accusation had worn off and after his day and night, exhausted was too small a word to describe how he felt. He'd managed to get this far but it was taking all he had to keep going and there just wasn't much left. He was sitting on the curb underneath a bridge near the sewer entrance he had used to get back to the surface, he hadn't even bothered putting the lid back. He was getting sloppy and he knew he had to get rest, revenge for Casey or not.

He was sitting on the curb of a street that ran beneath and arched bridge. Along this street and to the West was a fenced-in basketball court and a brick building beyond it. The rest of the street was lined with small office buildings. The rains had slacked but were still coming and to his right, out the archway, he could see the sky brightening, though too cloudy to let much light show. He had to get somewhere safe and rest and get there fast. He finally forced himself to stand, the sore foot arguing with him but giving in to his demand to walk. He would head for the closest building, the gym the basketball court belonged to, and from there climb to the roof and take a look for any places he could get some rest. He knew of an old water tower a mile or so away but he wasn't even sure if he could go that far.

As all this was playing in his mind, Raphael heard a car approaching and with what speed he could muster, hobbled into the shadows against the rounded wall of the underpass. The car`s lights managed to miss him as they turned the curve leading to the underpass and came to a halt just a few feet past him. His heart rate increased as he drew the sais tucked into the front of his belt. He could see that the car was black with chrome trim and looked expensive. It remained there for quite some time, nothing happening, when Raphael began to hear footsteps approaching. He stood perfectly still despite the pain shooting from his foot. He could see a man approaching in the light of the car`s headlights. He was a thin man in a filthy green basketball jersey.

Suddenly the car`s lights went out and the man in green continued walking until he came up beside the car and suddenly stopped. The whirring of a window motor caught Raphael`s attention and he listened closely, trying to block the sounds of the city out and focus on the conversation.

"Yeah," the man in green was saying in his high voice with an odd lisp, whistling anytime he made an "s" sound, "those goons you told me about were tight. They sent some big assed dude, nearly caved the punk`s head in with one punch. He ain't gonna be stoppin' our drops no more. Me and the boys got some payback on him and left him, just like you said we should."

Raphael could barely make out the next voice, it was soft and feminine. 'Good," it was saying, "then continue with your work and Arthur, I better not catch you tasting the goods again." Without a word the window motor moaned once again and the car began to move, rounding the corner. The man in green, Arthur, was lighting a cigarette and headed back the way he came as realization hit Raphael. It could just be coincidence but maybe, just maybe. Like a bolt, ignoring the pain, he burst out of the shadows, a roar escaping his lips that caused Arthur to turn just in time to catch the full force of Raphael`s weight which sent him flying to the ground. The turtle may have been shorter than Arthur but his strength was far superior. Arthur fell on his back, the wind shooting out of him with a resounding "Oof." The exchange of momentum between the two caused Raphael to fall backwards a bit but he caught his balance and in the time it took Arthur to sit up Raphael had lunged forward again and like a flash had hold of the hair on the back of Arthur`s head, one sai shoved hard into his chin putting a good deal of pressure on his jaw. He held his hands up in surrender but Raphael kept hold, kneeling over Arthur, a death grip on the hair of the man`s head.

Raphael leaned in close, his bandanna giving his eyes an eerie white color. "I'm gonna ask you some questions," he was saying. "You answer me honest and I'll let you go in one piece. Lie and well-" He put more force on the sai causing Arthur to involuntarily jerk backwards. The man started nodding as best he could under the circumstances, acknowledging that he agreed.

"First question," Raphael said "who are you?"

"Artie," Arthur responded, barely able to open his mouth.

Raphael could see well enough even though Artie couldn't open his mouth all the way, there wasn't a tooth in Artie`s head. Raphael nodded and continued. "Ok, Artie, what were you and your friend in the fancy car talking about?"

Artie hesitated but finally spoke, his words flying out of his mouth, his pupils dilated and his eyes wide. "I was telling her, that I had took care of a problem concerning our line of work."

"Oh? What line of work is that?" Raphael was leaning closer, he felt the answer coming. He knew it.

"I'm a dealer." Artie`s hands were still up. Raphael could see beads of sweat starting to form and slowly slide down the curve of Artie`s face.

"Dealer? What sort of goods?" Raphael asked.

Artie gave a strangled sigh, "They'll kill me, man." A horrible smile crept over the wide mouth of the turtle. He had him right where he wanted him.

"Tell you what, Artie. I don't like seein` nobody get picked on. You tell me what goods you're sellin` and I'll make sure you stay safe." It was a gamble but maybe, just maybe, he would fall for it.

"Nobody is safe from her and her crew." Artie said. "She's got the Purple Dragons at her back, a gang, ya know?" He was starting to freak out and if Raphael could press enough he'd break, surely. "Look all I do is sell the stuff, I meet up with the man twice a week and he gives me the stuff to sell. I usually don't even see the lady runnin` things but she wanted to talk, face-to-face. 'White Nirvana', man. Cocaine but made so cheap even the junkies on the streets can afford it. Pure genius. Let me go and I'll hook you up, man, we'll get high and forget this mess."

Raphael was getting angry now. All he knew about the drug was that anyone who was on it was hooked and that the stuff was mean. It didn't cause a person to rot the way meth would but the effects on the brain were horrible, like slowly pouring battery acid into someone`s skull. The drug also sped the user`s heart up to nearly explosive levels. It was a dangerous drug but the high was supposedly like nothing anyone had ever seen. It was cheap and a lot of it had hit the public. The turtles had tried to get rid of all they could but it was taking a lot of time but maybe with the help of Artie, it could finally be ended and he could find the Purple Dragons responsible for what happened to Casey.

With a little shifting of his weight Raphael spoke, slowly. "I don't want your garbage, I want the Purple Dragons and I want your man and I want them, now!" He went to force the sai harder into Artie`s chin, a bluff but it worked. Artie began to spill everything.

As it turned out there was an almost military scale operation revolving around 'White Nirvana.' There were scientists that Artie had never even seen held up somewhere out of sight. As the drug left production it went to people like Artie`s man, Ross. To keep the people in charge of moving the stuff safe, the Purple Dragons were hired in, the best of the gang being put on the head lady`s personal guard. Even Artie didn't know her name. When questioned why she was there this evening, Artie admitted that he'd run into trouble with a few of his exchanges and needed to take out the people responsible and didn't trust him so she sent her hired gang members to help him and wanted to meet him in person to make sure it was handled and done right.

By now the rains had slacked and a bit of the rising Sun was showing, lighting up the city. After getting all the information he could from Artie, Raphael was silent a moment, still holding him. At last he roughly let go and stood up, Artie finally getting to his feet as well. Artie started to turn and leave, finally free when Raphael spoke; "One last question: You ever run into a guy wearin' a hockey mask?"

Artie laughed, adjusting himself. "You serious?" He asked. "Yeah. He ruined one of my sales and my teeth so bad I had to have what was left pulled. He was one of the 'problems' the lady sent her Dragons to help me with, even sent her personal guard for some reason, biggest man I ever saw." His speech was hurried, his eyes going everywhere. " Anyways, after what the bastard did to my teeth, I wanted some payback so I took a baseball bat to his face and now, he don't look so good." He started laughing at the thought of getting to pound on the man responsible for nearly ruining the reputation he had built as a dealer. While he was musing, Raphael, facing the opposite direction froze in his footsteps. He turned, his brow furrowed and his teeth gritted tight. Before Artie knew what had hit him Raphael had taken hold of the man and hard as he could drove his knee into the man`s groin. When he leaned forward from the blow, grabbing himself with both hands to try and ease the pain, Raphael kicked him square in the face, knocking him back and down from the force.

Raphael angrily threw his sais away and mounted Artie, seating himself on the man`s chest and with terrible force started punching him over and over and over. All Raphael could see was red in his vision, the sight of Casey so badly beaten filling his mind. Again and again his fists pounded into the man`s face, peeling the scaly skin away from his knuckles. Artie had been screaming at first but now was silent, the punches still falling, when suddenly his attacker was jerked backwards and tossed to the ground.

"Are you insane!" It was Leonardo, Donatello and Michaelangelo running to the man who was now out cold.

"It's him, Leo." Raphael responded, rising from his shell to one knee, his breathing labored. "He's the scum that hurt Casey! What was I supposed to do? Let him go?"

Leonardo stood horrified looking down at his brother. This was out of control and he didn't know how to deal with it. Violence was a part of their lives but this, this was practically cold murder. After so long in silence Leonardo at last answered; "You can't kill him, Raphael! What's wrong with you? This is beyond anything I could have ever imagined from you!" He couldn't help but shout. He turned to his brothers, overwhelmed, it was all he could think to do. Donatello was looking over the man who obviously had a broken nose, his eyes swollen shut, his skin cut in places, fresh blood oozing from the wounds.

Raphael was on his feet and came to Leonardo`s side, ready to argue his point when he finally caught sight of Artie`s mutilated face. The sudden horror of what he had done hit him like a truck. Artie was just a man with none of the training the turtles had had. Just a normal, weak man high on drugs. He fell to his knees in disgust, the exhaustion and the adrenaline finally taking their tolls on his body. He spoke softly, more to the ground than anyone nearby.

"I'm no better than him…" He fell silent. Leonardo had been watching and seeing the realization come over Raphael`s face, the sudden horror, he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Raphael shrugged his brother`s hand off and suddenly rose to his feet and took off running, practically diving back into the sewer entrance, still open.

As the Sun continued to rise the remainder of the turtles tried to repair the situation as best they could. Donatello had noticed a payphone nearby and sent Michaelangelo to call 9-1-1. Artie would be fine but it would be a long time in recovery. They dragged his unconscious form out of the street and left him leaning against the wall Raphael had so recently taken to the shadows of. Donatello made on more quick check of Artie, just to be sure, and figured he'd be fine. He was kneeling before the unconscious man looking up to his brothers.

"It looks bad but he'll be okay." Donatello said. "Leo, we got here just in time. Good thing Mikey thought of the water tower nearby." Michaelangelo nodded as Leonardo looked into the white eyes of his brother. The red bandannas they all wore hid the emotions within their eyes, a good tactic, but at a moment like this, he could still read his brother`s thoughts. The journey home was quiet until at last Michaelangelo spoke.

"You know, he wasn't wrong." He was saying. "That guy may not have deserved death but that beating? He earned that." No one disagreed.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Calm Winds

The wooden door to the entrance of the turtles` home creaked open on its rusty hinges, Leonardo entering, his head hanging low. He looked around at the rubble from earlier and saw sitting there in the big chair, his master, Splinter, sitting with his legs crossed under him, a blanket draped over his shoulders, sipping on a cup of tea, his fur still wet from the rains. At the sight of his father Leonardo ran to kneel at his side, glad to see him after the trial of the past few hours. His brothers, following behind, joined Leonardo, all of them going down to their knees and bowing slightly. This was their father, in their eyes, but also their sensei who demanded the utmost respect. For a time they were silent and just as Leonardo opened his mouth to speak, Splinter cut him off.

"Your brother is resting." He said, his voice a deep, wise rasp, his eyes remaining closed as he spoke. "He came to me in terrible condition, telling me everything, angry and frustrated. Hurt. You have all been through quite an ordeal since I left for my exercise." When Splinter went on an exercise it was basically a pilgrimage. He would go as far as he could and when he could walk no further he would make the journey home. No food, no sleep. Only the bit of fresh water he took with him and the robes he wore.

"He's here?" Donatello asked. Splinter nodded in reply. "Good. We thought, well, we thought he'd run off."

"We had no idea what he was planning, "Leonardo was saying. " I did not know how to handle Raphael`s decisions. I have never seen him this-" He paused.

"Crazy," Michaelangelo interrupted. Leonardo glanced at his brother and although crude, Mikey was right. Donatello said nothing, his eyes were closed and his head bowed, ever the sponge soaking things in.

"What punishment would you ask for actions such as his, father? What path would you have us take?" Leonardo asked, his voice pained at the thought of having to perhaps banish Raphael or worse, would Splinter be so angry to go as far as execution? Splinter heard his son`s question and opened his eyes, a sad expression coming over his face as he tilted his head in Leonardo`s direction.

"My son," he said, his voice stern yet soft as a whisper. "Tell me, if you had found one of your brothers in the condition Raphael found his friend, how rational do you think you would find yourself? Your brother has ever been like a storm and you a calm breeze, ever flowing, but given enough clouds can not a calm breeze become a storm? Your brother`s actions were rash and foolish but he is our family and we will treat him as such. We must now be an ear to Raphael, not a fist. He will need guidance and that, my son, is the path we shall take." Donatello and Michaelangelo looked up at Splinter and then to one another. Though this came as a shock, relief covered their faces, Michaelangelo even managing a smile. Leonardo however, continued to stare down at the ground. His voice came hoarse and almost threatening.

"Forgive me, master, but leniency at a time like this?" He looked up at his father, his brow creased with confusion . "Raphael almost killed a man in cold blood."

Splinter`s response was quick and cool and struck hard with the discipline taught in battle, so too had d Splinter learned how to combat verbally. "There is no one in this room whose hands have not at least once been sullied by the blood of his enemies. Above ground you would all be punished as murderers even though we have ever fought in the name of peace. No Leonardo, we will not pass judgment on your brother." Leonardo stared a moment and the truth hit him like a ton of bricks. He felt ashamed at the realization, he even looked at his hands knowing them to be unclean. He bowed low to the ground on his hands and knees.

"Forgive me, father," Leonardo said. 'Raphael should be shown compassion. I was blinded by my own anger and outrage." Splinter smiled at his son and reached a clawed hand down to tilt his son`s face up.

"You acted as your heart told you to." Splinter said. "That is not so wrong a thing." Splinter sat his cup down on a little crate used as a table beside his chair and rose to his feet. " I am concerned however, what has become of the man your brother nearly killed?"

"He should be in the hospital by now, sensei." Michaelangelo answered. "I called for an ambulance to come pick him up."

"Good." Splinter said. He threw the blanket he'd been wearing back over the back of the couch and turned to his sons. "I think now would be a good time to get some rest. " No one argued with that. They all filed into the small hallway where they each had a cot to lay on. It was cramped but it was all they had. Raphael was in the corner sleeping like the dead, he hadn't even bothered to remove his gear, lying on his side. Donatello went to him a moment and gave him a quick glance. Other than bruises and a few scrapes he seemed okay. He nodded to Leonardo who had been watching. The turtles then readied for bed by removing their masks, pads and belts, Leonardo and Donatello wore the most complicated belts of the group and so often had to aid one another since the shells on their backs made it difficult to reach. At last that was done and they lay down.

It took a while but Leonardo finally fell asleep after an hour of staring at the ceiling listening to his family breathing as they all succumb to sleep. A few snores escaped his father and once Donatello had moaned in his sleep and waved an arm around like he was trying to shove something off. At last he closed his eyes and finally disappeared into the realm of dreams. When he awoke several hours later Donatello was sitting up, reading a small book with a red cover, leaning against the back wall. Raphael was still sleeping in his corner. Michaelangelo and Splinter must have already gotten up. Donatello noticed him stirring and quickly put his bookmark in his place and turned to face his brother.

"Morning Sunshine," he said, "you feeling rested?" Leonardo grunted, still partially asleep. " How about some breakfast? I don't know about you but I'm starving." Another grunt and the two rose, assisting one another into their respective belts. Once ready they made their way back to the small kitchen where Michaelangelo, wearing a "kiss the cook" apron, was hard at work at the stove April had given to them a while back. Splinter sat in his chair just as he had the night before, sipping at his tea. The debris of the day before was now neatly piled in one corner, Donatello would have to do his best to repair everything.

The pair sat down at the table, none of the chairs matching, everyone exchanging varying versions of "Good morning." A short time later, they were joined by Michaelangelo and Splinter at the table. After a breakfast of eggs and toast the three turtles and their sensei had moved to the dojo and were warming up, ready for a bit of practice when from the entrance came Raphael`s voice.

"There any food left?" They all exchanged glances and Michaelangelo, rising from a push-up position came to his brother who stood leaning against the wall, his arms crossed tightly around him.

Michaelangelo put his hand on one of Raphael`s shoulders and thumbed towards the kitchen. "Yeah, come on and I'll hook you up with some eggs." He said, walking on past his brother who soon followed. Raphael was still hobbling when his weight went to his bad foot. He held his side which hadn't hurt before but now was sore all of a sudden, likely the fall. He ached all over but all he could think about was food. It had been a long time since he'd eaten and right now getting some food was his main priority. He sat at the table in time to see Michaelangelo donning his apron again, which caused Raphael to roll his eyes and grunt a sigh, and open the half rusted refrigerator door to pull out the eggs. Raphael kept looking at the swollen red on Michaelangelo`s cheek where he'd hit him the previous day. A ping of guilt ran through him as he watched while his brother cooked.

"I'm sorry, Mikey." Raphael said, meaning it. Michaelangelo turned to face him, a look of confusion on his face. Raphael read his expression. "About your face. For hittin' you."

Michaelangelo threw his arm out waving the apology away. "No biggie," he said. "You hit like a girl anyway." Raphael couldn't help but smile at that a little. His expression dropped as the other members of the family came and sat down beside him, Splinter sitting at the head of the table. Raphael didn't wait for anyone to say anything. He was ready for some kind of punishment. They'd killed before but what he almost did yesterday was wrong. In the past, they had only done what was needed when a threat to the city showed itself but killing a man in the street purely out of anger was wrong. He spoke, his words slow and to the point.

"Look, I know what I did was wrong and I'm sorry. Really, I am, but right now, there's more important things going on here." The others all exchanged glances, Michaelangelo turning to look as he dropped the eggs into the pan and put the bread in the old toaster on the counter. "This drug, white nirvana or whatever,I think I know how we can finally get it off the streets." The room was silent until the "pop!" of the toaster. Michaelangelo put the charred bread on a plate and pour the eggs from the pan beside them, setting the plate in front of Raphael and before he could ask him what he'd like to drink his brother had already swallowed half the eggs. With one cheek puffed out, full of food and an egg balanced on his fork, he continued.

"Artie, the man I beat, told me how they distribute the trash out to the public. All we gotta do is find the place they make it and shut it down and no more nirvana." He then told them what Artie had said. About the Purple Dragons, about the man who gave him his portions to sell. All of it. The others were all quiet for quite some time. Michaelangelo, leaning against the stove with his arms crossed, at last spoke up.

"So, what? Bust skulls until we find someone willing to rat his buds out? I don't know how well that'll work."

"No," Donatello said, "but if we can find where those shipments go we could stop them from transferring the drugs to the dealers. Dry it up on the streets and the addicts will start tearing their doors down to get it. We go in and get all the info out of the dealers, who would probably be more likely to squeal than a Purple Dragon. Even if we do stop production, would it be enough, though? It's a type of cocaine, right? Cocaine is made from certain leaves so even if we did get rid of where it's made, all they have to do is get new supplies and find a new place and restart production."

"Remove the head and the body will die." Splinter suddenly interjected. Everyone turned to him. "We must find who is in charge of all of this. If there is no one to supply them then they can not rebuild."

"The lady," Raphael said to no one in particular.

"The lady?" Leonardo asked, he'd been listening in silence.

"Yeah," Raphael was saying, "When I questioned Artie he said that there was a lady in charge but he didn't know her name."

"So the question is," Leonardo said, "how do we find 'the lady?'"

Raphael crammed the egg into his mouth and looked to his brother. "Artie had a man named Ross that gave him his junk. We find Ross, maybe we can find the lady?"

"Do you know how to find Ross?" Donatello asked, the obvious question.

Raphael shook his head as he swallowed another bit of egg. "No, but maybe one of the junkies on the street will? We get them to tell us where Ross is and then we make Ross talk. We just keep grabbin' people and gettin' names until we get to the lady. Then, we shut her down. Permanently."

"There is no guarantee that Ross will give us any information." Leonardo said, crossing his arms on the table and leaning his weight onto his elbows, an expression of deep thought crossing his features.

"Well, I say we start with Artie." Donatello chimed in. "One good thing about Raphael`s actions is he'll be scared to death if we can track him down, once he's out of the hospital. That fear might make him squeal."

"We've done enough to that man." Leonardo quickly put in. "Artie may be scum but we can't keep abusing him."

"Leonardo is right," Splinter agreed, "but, under the circumstances, we have no choice. I say you all rest and heal, there will be time enough once Artie is back on the streets and perhaps this time you can leave him for the authorities, which brings up a serious concern: what if after going to the hospital, the Police took Artie in? Sure, a man beaten near to death wouldn't immediately bring up suspicion but if he had a record or was carrying this drug, then he may have been apprehended."

The room grew silent. The idea of Artie being arrested was a thought nagging in the back of all their minds, but no one wanted to admit it. Raphael finished the last of his meal as everyone sat in silence. No one was saying anything and it was starting to crawl all over him. Finally he could take it no more and spoke up. "Then we have to go now, get to him before anyone has a chance to figure him out, if he ain't already been arrested."

"I'll call April." Michaelangelo said, still standing at the stove, an idea striking him. "It's a long shot but maybe he's in the same hospital as Casey?" He stepped over to the phone and started dialing.

"Good thinking, Mikey." Donatello said, rising to his feet, grabbing Raphael`s plate and headed to the sink by the refrigerator. It was he who had tapped them into the water lines. A pretty simple job considering they lived in the sewers.

"One thing," Leonardo said, looking up at Raphael. "If we have to do this, I don't want you there. One, you're in no condition to be climbing if we have to sneak into that hospital. Second, you may be sorry for your actions, but you have history with Artie now, and I don't want you tempted."

Raphael narrowed his eyes at his brother. His temper flared a moment and he was about to speak when Splinter interrupted. "There is wisdom in your brother`s words, Raphael. You and I shall go fetch your sais, if they have not been stolen. In your anger this morning you told me you had thrown them aside. A ninja must ever keep his weapon within sight. When that is done you will rest and meditate on all that has transpired this night."

Raphael wore his anger on his face like a second mask, but he bowed his head to his master. "Hai, sensei." He said.

It was then that Michaelangelo was hanging up the phone. He looked to his family, Donatello at the sink, everyone else still seated at the table. "April said she'd take a look and call us back. She said our man would probably be in the E.R. even after this much time, it`s Lincoln! Oh, and Raph, Casey's doing well and aside from a crooked nose and some scarring, should be good to go home in a few days. The doc said it wasn't as bad as it looked but all the bleeding was a serious issue so they had to give him blood and wanna keep an eye on him."

His features still bent in anger, Raphael suddenly shifted and a look of relief covered his face. He even managed a slight smile and whispered to no one, "Thank God."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Like Shadows

A little over an hour after Michaelangelo had hang up the phone, it started to ring. By then Raphael and Splinter were sitting in the living room, Donatello was going over Raphael`s injuries to make sure he was okay and had found that Raphael had probably hurt his ribs and so did the best he could to wrap them, even though his shell prevented any real effects the wrap would have, though the pressure it created did help to alleviate some of the pain. Leonardo and Michaelangelo were sitting in the kitchen watching the portable television they had found in the trash that actually managed to pick up a couple channels with its antenna. When the phone started ringing, Leonardo jumped up and quickly grabbed the receiver. He started smiling after a few seconds of listening to the muffled voice of April, heard by all in the silence of the room, everyone watching the sword wielding turtle. He kept repeating in various tones, "Yeah" or, "Okay" and finally, his tone taking a deadly tone, "Yeah. You won't see us but we'll be there. Thanks a ton, April."

He turned to his brothers, each in turn, after clicking the receiver back on its hook. "Mikey, Donatello, let's move. He's been handcuffed to his bed and they've got him under guard, but he's still in the E.R. We don't have long." That was all it took. Michaelangelo had been idly twirling one of his nunchaku during the phone conversation, leaning his chair back with one foot against the kitchen table, but as soon as Leonardo spoke he was up and ready. Donatello put the final touches on a wrap he was putting around Raphael`s bad foot; it was a sprained heel, which can feel like a sprained ankle but when he touched Raphael`s ankle, nothing happened but anytime Donatello touched the heel, Raphael would growl and slap at his brother, pointing it out as the obvious problem. As soon as he was done Donatello stood and grabbed his bo which had been leaning against the wall behind him. He twirled it once and slid it into the loop on his shell. In an instant they were gone, saying simple goodbyes.

Lincoln Medical Center was a good hour and a half's run. It was late, thankfully, so if they hurried there would still be plenty of dark to do what they needed to. The night was clear, unlike the rainy evenings of late. The stars, what could be seen of them over the dim light of the city, flickered overhead like candle lights in the distance. The sound of rushing cars on the highway nearby called aloud, sirens in the distance. The turtles reached the surface and before long flitted over rooftops, under bridges and through parking garages where the shadows were thickest. They moved as one, each with their own style; Leonardo was graceful and light on his feet. Michaelangelo was holding back, the fastest of the group, he wanted to stay with his brothers but he still overcame each obstacle without slowing his speed. Donatello was a bit slower. He was far more technical in how he made his jumps and bounds and though his speed wasn't as impressive, and his jumps not as flowing, he crossed each obstacle in the most effective way leaving himself open to no surprises or chance to fail.

At the pace Leonardo, leading the way, had set they reached the hospital in just over an hour, though it was taxing, their mission was set and no one complained. They reached the top of the building by climbing the brick wall. This slowed them down but by staying in the shadows in the corner of the building, this was the safest way up, keeping them out of sight. The brown brick was spaced enough that they could easily find hand and footholds. As they reached the top Donatello set to work figuring out which of the air units on the roof would get them in the heat ducts and down to the rooms. This would be the slowest part. They knew roughly where to go by the lighted sign outside pointing out the Emergency Room. Donatello mumbled to himself as he ran to the edge of the building a couple of times, looking over to see just where the sign was. After some time he indicated one of the big units.

"This is it, has to be." He said, surety in his voice. Leonardo was there in an instant and in one motion drew both of his swords and sliced the ductwork attached to the big heat and air unit open in two places cutting away a wide enough section of the duct for them to crawl in. It wouldn't take long for the people inside to notice the air wasn't cooling the building so now time was of the essence. Leonardo quickly sheathed his swords and nodded to Donatello who immediately squeezed into the ductwork. He called back as his feet disappeared over the edge of the tin ductwork, "No room for weapons here, Leo. You and I are gonna have to carry them." It was nasty inside, full of webs, spiders, dust and grime. The duct, being central for this section of the building, was wide but just barely enough. It was tight but Donatello squeezed himself down by holding onto his bo with one hand and basically climbing vertically down the bolted joints of the ductwork like a ladder. He soon heard Michaelangelo sneeze from above and behind him just as the first elbow of the duct came into sight, where the direction switched horizontally and the ducts would branch off to go along the rooms of the hospital.

Once at the bottom, Donatello had a difficult time but by sitting and twisting himself sideways he managed to turn around, headfirst, where he had enough room to crawl on his elbows, though the loop for his bo on the back of his shell was scraping the roof of the duct. Leading the way, he continued in the same direction until they finally came to the branches of the ductwork that went off in different directions to the different rooms. He stopped, allowing his brothers time to come up behind him. They were all sweating in the warming air of the cramped space as Donatello leaned sideways to try and look at them as he spoke.

"We split up here?" He asked, aiming the question mostly at Leonardo who quickly responded.

"Yeah, you go as far in as you can, Mikey take the middle, I'll take this end. It looks like the ducts follow the hallways so I'm guessing they'll branch off into the individual rooms all the patients are in?" Donatello grunted yes and Leonardo continued, "Then we'll meet back here in five minutes. Scout it out, check the open vents and come back. Hopefully we'll spot something." Without another word the three went as Leonardo had planned and were scouting their respective ducts.

On the other side of town Raphael and Splinter had managed to finally make their way through the muck and mire of the sewer and were standing beneath the ladder leading out to the bridge where Raphael had lost his sais. The journey here had been quite a task as they had picked their way through the driest portions of the sewer, no small task, to try and keep Raphael`s bandages as dry as possible. It was damp but it still held to his foot which was the most important part. Raphael and Splinter had spoken little. Mostly it had been Splinter telling Raphael of ways to counter his anger, which mostly went in one ear and out the other. Raphael intended to try and control himself, but the hocus pocus methods Splinter spoke of didn't seem practical. Leonardo was the one that ate up the meditation and Tai Chi styles which allowed mental as well as physical control. Raphael preferred to rough through the anger like he would anything else and any time it was close to getting out of hand, he had vowed to himself, he would knuckle it down and try to stay calm.

Raphael climbed up the ladder first, anxious to get into the open air he preferred and away from the cramped sewer where he had no choice but to listen to Splinter. He pushed up on the lid as he reached the top and was immediately overcome by the sounds of the city; the treading of tires across the asphalt and the venting of steam through various vents in alleyway. A horn honked in the distance just as he managed to climb up and out onto the pavement beneath the bridge. He hadn't checked to make sure the coast was clear in his haste to get away from the sewer and Splinter`s speeches. As soon as he thought to finally look around he saw that there, against the wall he had hidden against the night before, stood five very rough looking men. Splinter was making his way up the ladder as the five started making their way towards Raphael. Just as the sage rat`s head peaked the sewer exit, the men came within earshot.

"Well, what do we have here?" One of the men was saying, a tall man with a purple mohawk. He had a baseball bat across his shoulders, his hands draped over either end to balance it there. All of them had varying weapons, pieces of pipe, a bit of chain. Raphael stood still, his master coming up beside him. Both stood rigid, waiting.

"What's with the stupid costumes?" One of the others asked. "You think this is the guy what busted Artie up?"

"Maybe," the mohawk said. "I thought he was trippin' when he said it was a giant turtle. Either way, they're on Dragon turf now. Get 'em." The men charged.

Raphael didn't hesitate. Bandaged as he was he dove right for the mohawk, slamming fists first into the man`s stomach, a loud "whoosh" escaping the man as he tumbled backwards, his breath exiting his lungs. Splinter stood resolute as three of the others came at him, the one leading the charge was the man with the bit of chain, swinging it wild when he was in range. Splinter dodged it, moving swift as wind and fluid as water. He ducked and turned away beneath the chain and ignored the man wielding it and twisted away and using his momentum swung his foot up and around, driving it with ruthless accuracy into the left ear of the farthest man, who went down like a bag of rocks.

Raphael, as soon as he had knocked the mohawk back, ran forward and with the force he could muster drove his right fist hard into the chin of the man, knocking him even further back, causing him to trip on the curb and fall flat on his back. The last man, not focusing on Splinter, ran towards the turtle, a length of pipe held high over his head, screaming with rage. He attempted to swing the pipe down, hoping to bash the turtle`s head in, but Raphael saw it coming and took hold of the man`s arms and slammed his head into the man`s nose, breaking it. The force of the hit caused the man to fall back, dropping his pipe. Raphael quickly jumped and spun into a round-house kick, driving his good foot hard into the man`s cheekbone, spinning him around and down where he fell and lay motionless. So far his foot had served him but pain was coursing from it as he looked over to his master.

Splinter was facing off the man with the chain and another young looking man with lots of piercings in both his ears and eyebrows. The chain whipped out again, this time Splinter used his speed and grabbed hold of the chain as it`s wielder was coiling it back. It wrapped around Splinter`s hand as the other man came running towards him, a butterfly knife in hand. Splinter kicked out and struck the knife wielder in the knee causing him to stagger. In the time that bought him he pulled the chain hard and using his left arm and a strength belying his frail appearance drove the flat of his forearm hard into the chain wielder`s neck, clotheslining him with such force he fell to the hard asphalt with a loud "smack!" The last man standing had caught his balance and was now trying his best to stab Splinter who kept dodging the man`s thrusts. With a coy smile Splinter reached out and though it came at the cost of being nicked across the ear, Splinter grabbed hold of the rings in the man`s right eyebrow and yanked, ripping them out. The man screamed, grabbing at his face and just as he remembered he was in a fight he lowered his arms just in time to catch an incredibly fast volley of punches to the face and a resounding kick that sent Splinter up and backwards into the air that lay the man flat. As Splinter landed he looked to his fallen foe and dropped the bloodied rings he'd yanked out of the man`s face down onto his chest, a snicker escaping his long snout.

Raphael was standing over the mohawk who was conscious but just barely. Raphael`s blood was boiling but he took control and instead of slamming this thug`s head into the concrete, like he wanted so badly to do, he drove his fist with all his strength into the man`s temple, knocking him out cold. He looked to Splinter now who was approaching, straightening the old robes he wore as he came. When he was next to his son he held out one of the sais they had come for.

"This last one must have found it and thought to keep it. Half your work is done my son, now find it`s mate, I will make sure our friends can not follow us home." As Raphael was combing over the sidewalks and the street trying to find the sai, Splinter withdrew a length of rope from beneath his robes. He had come prepared for anything, just in case more of Artie`s people had been here. By the time Raphael had come running up, his other sai found clear across the street, Splinter had managed to tie the men all with the one rope in such knots that Raphael had never seen despite his teacher being the one who'd tied them. As was their custom in this sort of situation, Raphael went to the nearby payphone and dialed 9-1-1 and left the phone hanging there. The Police would have to answer, it was required and hopefully they'd find these punks who would surely be found with something illegal on them. Splinter and Raphael returned to the sewer entrance and faded like shadows in the night.

Back at the hospital, Michaelangelo had been able to spot the guard who was supposed to be watching the door but was fast asleep in the dim hallway. When the turtles had regrouped he reported that he was unable to spot the door but it had to be near the guard. He also reported that it was at the end of a hallway, right near a broom closet which would be a great exit. Leonardo had another idea.

They had worked their plan out and were now just above the guard. There was nowhere near enough room in the vent overhead to use it an exit but, by using the tanto Leonardo kept in the back of his belts, he was able to carve out a large piece of the tin, the noise causing the guard to stir but fall back to sleep once it passed. By removing it and moving a piece of the hanging roof tile overhead, Leonardo was able to look down and seeing the coast clear eased himself to the floor. Like a silent bolt he dashed behind the elderly policeman and grabbed him in a tight sleeper hold and, Donatello following and rushing to open the broom closet door, drug the man, seat and all, wide-eyed and afraid into the broom closet where he would wait with the guard who would soon pass out from the pressure hold. Donatello gently closed the door behind them.

The rooms past the Emergency Room waiting area in the Lincoln Medical Center were built with little glass cubicles going down the length of the halls. It was always busy and every cubicle was occupied and so the turtles were moving quick and silent, eyeing the other doorways as they went to the door across from where the guard had been. Donatello checked the curtain bordered entrance to Artie`s cubicle in case of a second guard and nodded to Michaelangelo that all was clear.

It was dark inside and they could hear the whistling snores of Artie as he slept. His face was wrapped in bandages from above the lip to the top of his head, leaving only an opening for his eyes. His bed was positioned so that he was sitting up a bit, a small rectangular bulb overhead shining down on his partially mummified face. The hand cuff on his right wrist glinted in the light, clasped around the bed railing. Donatello tip-toed around the bed, past the chair meant for family and went to the wall and using a similar tanto to Leonardo`s, cut the wire that Artie could use to call a nurse. Donatello moved back to the door and moved the curtain aside so he could see the hallway where he looked to his brother and nodded. Michaelangelo simultaneously grabbed Artie`s free arm and slapped a hand over Arties`s mouth who awoke with a muffled scream which he attempted to do louder but the thick green hand kept it silent.

In an impression of Raphael that spooked even Donatello, Michaelangelo spoke; "Hello again, Artie." The man`s eyes were wide with horror and he was struggling against the strength of his captor to no avail. Michaelangelo continued. "I'm gonna move my hand and when I do, you scream and I'll make you pay, understand?" Artie nodded. As soon as Michaelangelo removed his hand the man screamed "Help!" but Michaelangelo quickly covered the mouth again and letting go of Arties other hand said, "Wrong choice." He then flipped Artie hard on the broken nose using his index, or middle finger in his case. It brought a gurgling muffled scream from the wounded man. Michaelangelo again said he'd let go and that if Artie answered one question, he'd never see him again. The man nodded again and when Michaelangelo removed his hand, remained silent.

"How do I find your man, Ross?" Michaelangelo asked. Artie looked at him with a seething hatred.

"I ain't tellin' you freak!" Michaelangelo went to flip the broken nose again and Artie winced bawling "Okay, okay okay! It ain't worth it! Every Monday I meet Ross at an old pub called the "West." He'll be there at nine o'clock sharp." He then described him in detail, just wanting this over with. It really wasn't worth the small amount of money he made selling dope. When he'd told Michaelangelo all he needed to know the turtle promised that they would never see one another again.

Artie closed his eyes. "Thank God," he said "I just wanna rest, pull my time and get a job at Burger King or somethin'. It ain't worth it, dammit. It ain't worth it." He opened his eyes and found that the turtle was gone.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Addiction

As soon as Donatello and Michaelangelo were finished questioning Artie they were in the hall, Donatello tapping at the broom closet door, Leonardo quickly answering and following his brothers back to the ceiling tile they had left open. This would be one of the trickier parts of this entire mission. Getting out of the duct had been fairly easy but getting up into the duct from the ground would take teamwork. Luckily, this was something the three of them had trained their whole lives to overcome.

Seeing the coast was clear the three had quickly run down the dim hallway. It occurred to Donatello that cameras were likely watching them, but there was no time for that now. Michaelangelo had reached the opening first and stopped just under it and cupping his hands together, bent down to one knee and made himself a living stepping stool. Leonardo, fluid and fast was up and working his way in, Donatello following as soon as his brother`s feet disappeared. Donatello climbed into the duct, which strained with the weight of him and his brother who had already started towards the vertical ductwork to scout and see if anyone was waiting up top. This was made even more awkward with Donatello having to throw his bo in and find it later. Donatello was force to back himself up far enough that he could lean his upper body out the gap and lean over the overhanging ceiling to catch Michaelangelo who had to jump to reach the hanging ceiling. Donatello grabbed his brother`s wrists both turtles straining, and pulled him in, backing back into the duct which wasn't done gracefully but considering the space they had was good enough. As soon as Michaelangelo had started crawling after Leonardo, Donatello reached out and pulled the ceiling tile back making it appear as though they had never been there.

Donatello, quick as he could, followed after Michaelangelo and soon caught up to his brothers, both of whom he found lying on their stomachs, Michaelangelo behind Leonardo who was gazing up the vertical ducts. It was now sweltering in the metal tunnel of the ductwork. The air that normally flowed through had stopped as soon as Leonardo had severed its connection to the big unit on the roof and in the time they had spent inside the temperature had risen and with their body heat it was a sauna. They were all dripping with sweat.

As soon as Micahaelangelo felt Donatello at his feet, doing the best he could, he rolled to try and look him eye to eye.

"There's someone up there." Michaelangelo whispered. "Leo could hear them talking to someone on a radio."

Panic in his voice, Donatello spoke loud enough for both brothers to hear. "We don't have time for this. If there were cameras in those halls someone may have seen us!"

That was enough to send Leonardo into action. He started scrambling up the duct carrying his swords in one hand, as quick as he could using only the strength of his arms and legs and the bolted joints of the ducts to carry him up the tight, vertical climb. When he made it to the top he slowed his pace and quieted his movements, his brothers, who had followed, doing the same. He could see the occasional glare of a flashlight passing into the opening he had made to get them in as if someone were waving it about. He could hear a high pitched male voice telling someone that there were pieces of the duct in the basement and to bring up a couple of the joints and the chirp of his radio as he released the call button.

Leonardo, now just below the opening in the duct, slowly stretched his head up so he could peer out and caught a glimpse of the back of a white shirt just in front of him. He quickly ducked back down and, reaching into a small pouch on the side of his waist belt, withdrew a small round object and lifted his hand up over his head towards the opening. He hesitated a moment as if bracing himself and taking a deep breath and holding it, squeezed the round thing hard causing it to erupt with smoke. He quickly tossed it out the opening and heard the high voice shout, "What the hell?" Followed by coughing.

Quick as the cramped space would allow Leonardo was spilling out of the opening into the now smoke-filled night air, rolling up and onto his feet. The white eyes of his mask acting as a filter, he could still see fairly well in the smoke and could see that the man was alone and trying to find his way out of the thick cloud. Michaelangelo and Donatello were quickly out as well, the former aiding the latter whose loop for his bo had almost wedged him in the opening.

As the smoke finally began to fade the man, an older gentleman with a thick gray mustache, had drawn a handkerchief from his back pocket to cover his mouth and was waving his other hand trying to wave the smoke away. As it cleared all he saw was the big air unit and the open ductwork. Confusion set in just as his radio chirped and a friendly young voice cried out cheerfully, "Found it!"

The three turtles were moving with incredible speed across the rooftops, excited to share their findings with Splinter and Raphael and also to be out in the cool night air, in the open. They were laughing and cracking jokes at the expense of the elderly man, not in a cruel way but mostly over his confusion. Michaelangelo, happiest to be able to move freely again, had cut loose and was way ahead of his brothers who were trying but just couldn't match his speed. Leonardo had been watching the sky as they ran and could see it was once again full of clouds, their gray color showing against the black backdrop of night. Donatello was making note as he went of how much traffic was out. He shouted ahead to Michaelangelo, urging him to stay away from the edges of the buildings, that a lot of eyes were out tonight.

They were careful and passing through the many obstacles of this concrete jungle, they finally came to the sewer entrance Raphael had used in his flight to save Casey. They were quickly down the ladder and sloshing through the remnants of the rains from the past few days. They were all quiet now, the toll of their work setting in, the only sounds now the dripping of water, the "woosh" as they moved through the ankle deep waters, until at last they came to the old door, the warm light of home spilling out of the gaps in the boards of the door, the soft sound of the little television spilling out into the sewer.

It was then that Leonardo had heard it. He and his brothers were now still but for just an instant there was another "woosh." He put a hand on Donatello`s shoulder, who had been just about to open the door. All three stood a moment, Donatello and Michaelangelo following Leonardo`s eyeline back the way they had come. It took him a moment to spot it but Leonardo caught a glimpse of movement in the shadows and could see a small form, pressing itself into the shadow of the wall, trying to hold still. With the iron cords of muscle in his legs he lowered himself and with terrible speed threw himself high into the air and in the same motion drew one of his blades and landed with a resounding thud and splash on top of whoever was in the shadow.

The shadow cried out in a small voice when Leonardo struck and now, holding his sword at their neck, he could see that it was a small girl. The dark of the tunnel hid any features but he could see the long, now soaked hair and the subtle curve of a youth`s breasts. Roughly he reached down and took her up by the hair, holding his blade at her neck, and dragged her, protesting in that small voice, over to the doorway and coming through the door tossed her into the big chair Splinter normally sat in. Raphael, who had been sitting at the table watching the television jumped to his feet with an audible growl as pain shot through his foot to remind him of his injury.

"Who are you?" Leonardo shouted at the girl, his blade pointed at her chest. She was as he thought, a young girl. She was small and horribly thin. Her brown hair was matted and her skin very pale and her clothing was filthy, more so than what the sewer would have caused, or so he noticed. She had large brown eyes. There was a strange twitch to her, she kept her arms wrapped around herself and she had a wild look to her. She didn't answer his question she just kept staring at the ground. Michaelangelo and Donatello were coming through the door just as Splinter came walking from the dojo.

"What is this about?" He growled, the sight of a strange human in his home instantly drawing his concern.

"I don't know sensei." Leonardo answered. "She must have followed us here. I heard her in the sewer and managed to catch her." Splinter approached the child who looked at him with a look of scorn. She remained silent even when he came close.

"You seem calm," Splinter was saying "for someone who is being held at blade point by a giant turtle, young one." She was breathing hard now, looking like she was going to explode when the words suddenly erupted out of her.

"I ain't scared uh you freaks." She said in an accent like Raphael`s but much thicker. "I been held at gunpoint before, a big knife ain't nothin'."

Splinter smiled and nodded as if knowing and reached out and put a hand on the flat of Leonardo`s blade. "Put it away, my son." As soon as Leonardo had sheathed the blade she was up in a flash running for the door but Donatello managed to reach out with his bo and trip her. He reached down and grabbed her and this time she started kicking and screaming, buffeting him in the hips and stomach but still he tossed her into the chair, Michaelangelo taking up a guarding position in front of the door.

Raphael, tired of everyone trying to play it cool, came around the table, ready to tear into the girl but Splinter held up an open hand to stop him, which Raphael did. Splinter looked to his son, "Bring her some food, Raphael." For a moment the turtle stood, perplexed, but Splinter insisted and so he took a slice of pizza from the box on the table and tossing it on a plate handed it to the waiting hand of his father. He held it a moment and her gaze shifted to the plate where her eyes remained. An even wilder look came over her face the longer he held it there until he finally gave it to her, setting the plate on her lap.

The food was gone in an instant, she practically swallowed it whole. Everyone was taken aback by this, she was obviously starved. Splinter looked to Raphael again and furling his brow nodded towards the pizza box. Raphael brought another slice to his father who set it on the plate and this time knelt down beside the child.

"Tell me, young one, what is your name?" He asked in a voice soft as the wind. She was half swallowing the next piece and in a much friendlier tone answered. "Kate, but most folks call me scout." She said nothing more, nothing less, as she finished off her food. Splinter stood back up.

"Tell me, Kate, why are you here?" Splinter asked. At the question she sank a bit, that wild look crossing her features. To him it was obvious she wanted to tell but something held her back. He seized the chance. "I can see you wish to answer me. What are you doing following my sons?"

"Look, I would say" she was saying in a matter-of-fact way, "but if I do, I don't get no rations. Unnerstand?"

"Since you obviously get so many," Donatello chimed in, standing beside Leonardo. She looked at him in a very childish manner, sticking her tongue partially out.

"Answer us," Splinter said, "and you may have all the food you wish." This caused her eyebrows to rise.

"In that case," she said, crossing her arms. "I was told to find uh bunch uh freaks in turtle costumes and follow 'em."

"By whom?" Splinter asked.

"I dunno," she answered, again looking at the ground. She twitched a bit. "It was some big goon my boss knew. Told me tuh find you guys and follow ya and find out where ya lived."

"Your boss?" Leonardo asked. "Who's your boss?"

"Dunno," Kate answered, "just a guy. We ain't exactly on friendly terms," this last she put in quotation marks with her fingers.

"Okay, so how did you know where to find us?" Leonardo asked. How could a child spot them? They were ninja.

"Easy," she said, a smug expression crossing her young features. "I started by followin' your friend, the dumb jock in the hockey mask that's been hittin' all the dealers. My boss found out you was friends with him so I tailed him and found out where he lived. The boss said we owed that guy one anyway so he had his boys attack him, hopin' you freaks would show and sure enough, one uh you did. How do you tell them apart, anyways?" She was looking at Splinter as she asked.

"The weapons," he answered, "when they are not speaking. Now, continue, please."

"I followed the one that came to the hockey guy`s place all the way here and I've been watching ever since to make sure this is your only place- and I shouldn'tuh told you that." She was looking down at her feet now. Everyone else`s gaze shifted to Raphael.

"What?" He barked. "Was I supposed to leave him there?"

No one argued his point. Leonardo turned to the girl and asked, "Have you told anyone else?"

She shook her head. "I've been in the sewers pretty much the whole time except to follow you three until you lost me and then I came back and waited, hoping you'd come back.." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The girl`s twitching had begun to worsen. Her eyes had begun darting around like wild and she was visibly shaking. Donatello, realization hitting him square between the eyes, suddenly stepped forward and looking down at her pointed and exclaimed. "She's an addict!"

She started at his words and looked sideways, trying to avoid anyone`s eye contact. Michaelangelo let out a low whistle, her response making it an obvious truth.

"My dear child," Splinter said, his heart melting. "How old are you?"

It took her a while to respond. She quietly answered, "Thirteen."

"Damn!" Raphael exclaimed.

"White Nirvana," Leonardo simply stated but the girl nodded, tears began to run down her cheeks. "How?" he asked, his voice gentle.

"I was an orphan..." she said, speaking slowly "My foster parents, about a year ago, took me yo yhis guy, my boss, and he made me sniff a ton of this stuff or my parents would toss me on the streets. They took me twice a day for the first week and then..." She hesitated, "they left me there, with him. He put me in this...cell and left me there for days and I got so sick, he comes to me and says to follow this woman, I didn't know her, but he said if I did it, he'd give me the stuff so I wouldn't be sick no more. I followed her and told him where she lived and it's been like that ever since. Now, when I do good, he gives me more and feeds me, if I don't do good he don't give it to me and I get sick and he don't feed me." Suddenly anger crossed her features. "Whadda you care anyways?" The tears were flowing now.

The room was deathly silent except for the occasional whimper escaping from Kate`s quivering mouth. She put her face in her hands, trying to hide her hurt. The silence was suddenly interrupted as Raphael, his anger and outrage overcoming him, reached out and grabbed the nearest object, the small television, and launched it with all his strength down the hallway where it smashed into the wall with a loud "bang!" No one said a word.

Finally, after a couple minutes of silence as the girl wept Michaelangelo spoke from behind Leonardo, the latter moving so everyone could see him. "Her names not scout, she is one. The sick bastards don't even call her by her name. We can't let her go back to that scum!" He was shaking. Leonardo placed a comforting hand on his brother`s shoulder.

"No," Splinter said "we cannot. She will stay with us until we can find a place for her to go and truly be safe. He looked to her and though her face was hidden in her hands, she knew he was looking at her. "You will never be treated this way again."

Somehow the television had survived the assault from Raphael and with just a bit of work from Donatello was working again. They fed Kate until she was no longer hungry as they all sat watching the small screen. When she was calm, they tried to question her about the way things operated around the drug. She answered all she could but all she ever saw was her rendezvous point where she was picked up after she called in to her boss. She was then hauled back to the house where she was held in her cell and drugged. She agreed to help them find this place and shut it down. After a bit of planning she was nodding off, the rest of them following suit. They made her a place on the couch and so she went to sleep wrapped warmly in the blanket, belly full, feeling better after telling someone the sick truths to her life. The turtles and their father all retired to the bedroom, except for Michaelangelo who had decided to sleep in the living room in case Kate needed anything. After a few hours, the nagging began and Kate couldn't lie still. She rolled. She turned. Nothing would stop the need. She felt so sick. When Michaelangelo at last awoke he looked and found that Kate was gone.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Waking up

Casey Jones slowly opened his eyes which were not ready for the bright light around him. As his eyes adjusted he realized he was in a strange room in a hospital bed. Putting two and two together he knew where he was. The walls were a pale blue with dark blue trim at the ceiling. Warm sunshine was pouring in through the window to his left and he could feel a cool breeze coming in through the open window. April O'Neil suddenly came into his vision. Her long brown hair was hanging down over her face as she leaned over him. She was wearing a purple t-shirt tucked into high waisted jeans that to him, were perfectly tight. He found her to be extremely attractive but so far he hadn't acted on that feeling.

"You're finally awake." She stated. "You've been out for days."

"Wha?" Was all Casey could mutter. His head was throbbing suddenly and his face itched in the wrappings covering it. He sat up in the bed, a bit dizzy and swayed a moment. April put a hand on his back to try and stabilize him but he turned away and stood, swaying on his feet.

"You should stay put," April warned as she went to him to try and help but he waved her off. All he wanted was to walk up to the window and get some air that didn't stink of hospital, he hated hospitals. He made it under his own power and placed his hands on either side of the window and put his head out into the soft Summer breeze. He looked out at the city, at the place he called home. For a moment he admired the endless sight of the tops of buildings stretching out to forever.

April watched him thinking how stubborn he was. After a beating like that and this much time in the hospital he still refused to do what he should. Despite his predicament she couldn't help but admire his physique as he moved. He was in one of the flimsy hospital gowns and the back was still open revealing his naked back and boxer shorts. She admired his shoulders which rippled as he moved with the corded muscles earned through training, his legs balls of muscle. She blinked and tried to focus just as he pulled his head back in and turned to look at her just as she sat down on the edge of the bed. He leaned back on the windowsill for support. "Raph?" He asked. "I remember the lunkhead. Did he get me here?"

"Close," April responded. "He brought you to the turtles` home and they called me to come get you. I had to bring you here alone since, well, you know." He grunted acknowledgement and she continued. "I brought you into the E.R. you were in horrible shape. You had lost a lot of blood and you had a concussion and your face was messed up bad, obviously." Another grunt. He was looking her up and down. April was a curvaceous woman and despite the pain in his head, he found it hard to focus and not admire the sweeping curve of her waist leading to her hips. He shook his head to regain his focus as she went on. "So, I've been here with you ever since. I did go for a job interview for a while, sorry about that. I'm sure the turtles would have come if they could have."

"No biggie," he said, edging himself over to the bed and sitting next to her, "it ain't like they could just walk in here with flowers and balloons."

'You wanted flowers and balloons?" April said, raising an eyebrow, a humorous expression coming over her face.

"Hey, it ain't every day you get beaten to a pulp." He joked. "A girl needs some attention."

"Well," April sighed, "It's obvious this experience hasn't changed you at all."

He thought for a moment and a serious expression suddenly crossed his face as he looked into her eyes. "Thanks for staying with me, April. That means a lot. Outside of you and the turtles, I don't got nobody. Seriously, it means a lot."

April looked at him with a mixed expression of being both impressed and cracked-up. "Maybe the hits to your head did more than the doctors thought."

He laughed a genuine laugh. April thought for a moment about that. One thing Casey Jones was was genuine. He spoke his mind, he acted on it and never hid anything. He was also a man who would defend the ones he cared about to the ends of the Earth. She caught herself wanting to take his hand but held off. They had known each other while now but she wasn't sure if she was ready. She didn't like to rush. They were quiet a moment when there was a soft rapping on the door. Both turned and there saw a heavyset lady with thick braids in her hair, wearing pink scrubs pushing a cart with medical equipment.

"I need to check your vitals," she said in a sing-song sort of way.

"Sure thing," Casey said. She had him strapped to the machine in no time and soon they were picking at one another, Casey mock hitting on her. The lady rolled her eyes, telling him he was too skinny. That was the sort of talk they exchanged as she did her job and a couple hours and a doctor visit later, Casey was able to return home, the bandages removed. Casey`s bottom lip was swollen in the left corner and his nose was bent in a different direction in the middle and both eyes were blacked and in various places there were scrapes and cuts. The doctor had placed a fresh bandage over one of his brows, the worst of the cuts, but otherwise he just needed to heal. In the time Casey had been unconscious April had gone to his apartment and barely managing to find his cleanest dirty clothes had brought him something to wear for when they left. As they walked to her van he kept a hand on her shoulder to steady himself. He had long since stopped feeling dizzy but just touching her sent a thrill through him. They both climbed into her old Volkswagen van and she asked, "Where to?"

"I wanna see the turtles." He responded in a serious voice. She didn't respond but nodded and buckled herself in and off they went.

* * *

Michaelangelo had rushed to his sleeping family as soon as he had seen that Kate was gone. He was all in a panic as he woke his brothers who jumped up like the place was on fire, Raphael even drew his sais. He explained that he had been sleeping in the big chair and when he woke she was gone. He'd checked the sewers and even ventured above ground, risking it in the light of day, but she was gone, the realization of what this meant hitting them all like a speeding truck.

"Dammit!" Raphael barked, kicking at his cot knocking it sideways.

"Control yourself," Splinter roared from his seated position on his cot. "She has likely returned to those who she has been taught to return to. We cannot blame her. They have addicted her to this drug just so she would return. Though we may wish not to, we must understand that she may exchange the location of our home to get more of the drug. If that is the case, then we must hurry, this could only mean-" There was a thumping in the living room. In an instant the four brothers had run, weapons ready, to the door and were standing there waiting as Casey and April entered the room. Casey stopped and raised his arms as if being held at gunpoint.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed. "A guy's gone a few days and you forget who he is? Sheesh." Raphael was there in an instant.

"Y'know," the sai weilding turle said, "that big bandage coverin' half your ugly mug? That's a serious improvement."

"Maybe it'd work for you too, lizard lips." Casey retorted, a mischievous grin crossing his face. They hesitated a moment before laughing as they embraced, slapping one another on the back as hard they could, Raphael having the advantage, until they realized what they were doing and quickly let one another go. Everyone laughed at that. Splinter came forward and Casey, though not a student, got a bit more serious when he looked the wise rat in the eye.

"Splinter," Casey said.

"It is good to see you well," Splinter said, meaning it. "We were all concerned."

"Hey, no sweat." Casey replied.

"It is good to see you as well, Ms. O'Neil."

"You too, Master Splinter," April said. She gave him a big smile as she came to his side and hugged him.

"I'm afraid you have caught us at rather a bad time." Splinter said, letting go of April, his features darkening. He quickly relayed the news of Kate and the events of the night before. The pair of humans were both just as outraged as the rest of them.

"You can't stay here," Casey said, his tone much darker now. "She may have been a kid but she's an addict, she'll do whatever it takes to get a hit."

"We know," Donatello said from the kitchen table where he had taken a seat during Splinter`s story. "We'll have to move out of here."

"We can't stay any longer." Leonardo suddenly said. "We've wasted enough time, they could be on their way now."

"You can stay at my apartment," April said. "It's not as roomy as the antique shop was, but it'll be safe."

"No," Splinter spoke up. "We have put you at risk before, Ms. O'Neil and will not do so again. We will go to one of the other places we spied before moving here. Though this has become home, we must leave it behind."

"It sucks, but we gotta get movin'." Raphael chimed in, the frustration of the situation showing in his voice and on his features. Everyone agreed. Casey and April volunteered to help but the turtles insisted they do this alone. After saying a quick goodbye, Casey and April were making their way back through the sewer, April using the walkway to the side of the watery tunnel. They came to the same ladder that had been used so much as of late and just as Casey looked up, his eyes readjusting to the bright light of the day, he found himself surrounded by ten or more thugs, all with varying versions of the purple dragon tattoo and weapons.

"Run!" Casey shouted to April who was only partially out of the sewer. "Get the Turtles, go!" He shouted. She was down and gone. The thugs all started in for Casey who quickly ran and jumped to the top of April`s van which she had parked at the end of the alley. The thugs followed but Casey was quick and didn't stay on the roof long. Instead he slid off the back of the vehicle which faced out the alley and spying a pile of old lumber dumped at the foot of one of the old abandoned buildings. He ran for it, bent low and grabbed up a broken two-by-four. One of the Dragons had almost caught up to him and not expecting it, was still trying to catch him when Casey stopped and turned and using the old board like a baseball bat hit the man so hard in the face it broke the board. The others were almost on top of him now and his weapon gone. He caught a glimpse of the fire escape Raphael had used before and running full tilt back into the pursuing Dragons, tackled two of them and rolled off as they tumbled to the ground using his momentum to leap and catch the bottom rung of the ladder leading up.

Just as he was heaving himself up, the other Dragons latched onto his legs and were pulling him down when a blood curdling roar echoed all throughout the alley. Four green figures were running down the alley at incredible speed and crashed into the wall of Dragons like a wave against some cliff face. There was no quarter given as the turtles, fearing for their friends, held nothing back. Casey was finally ripped from the ladder and punched hard in the ribs by a man in a sleeveless black shirt. He was about to retaliate when a choked gurgling sound escaped the man, Raphael appearing from behind, one sai dripping blood as the man slid lifeless to the ground. Raphael`s attention focused on Casey, a club caught Raphael in the shell which drew instant action as he turned and elbowed the man in the face.

The fight was brutal, ruthless and short. Leonardo`s blades had sang a terrible song of death as they erupted through the back of two of the Dragons who slid off the blades, bleeding their life`s blood onto the hot pavement. He didn't pause and in a flash had struck out and beheaded another. Michaelangelo, when they had crashed into the group, leapt high into the air and finding a straggler at the back of the group dropped his foot hard onto the top of the man`s head, following through by twisting around as he landed and seating himself on the man`s back placing his arms around the Dragon`s head and snapping the man`s neck with sudden speed and strength. Donatello had shoved three of the Dragons when he met them on the field using his bo and as they fell back he used the weapon to trip one of them,sending him to the ground. With terrible force Donatello swung the weapon up and over his head driving one of the blunt ends into the man`s skull with a loud "CRACK!" The other two, regaining their footing came at him and with lightning speed he drove the staff into the side of one man`s head, the other, wielding an old baseball bat, swung at the turtle who dodged it and thrust one end of the staff out and into the man`s nose and as his foe fell backwards he spun and struck the man square in the temple with enough force to send him flying at least three feet. The last one, recovering from the blow to the head came at him, knife drawn. Raphael was there in a flash catching the man`s knife hand in the sword-breakers of his sai. He twisted the man`s arm around and turning him drove the pommel of his other sai hard into the man`s forehead with a sickening "CRUNCH" leaving a deep dimple where he had struck, the man`s eyes rolling into the back of his head.

The last man was running. He'd thrown down the pipe he'd been wielding and was now running the opposite direction down the alley. Michaelangelo sped after him, ran past and using the man`s own force grabbed and tossed him over his shoulder he struck the ground hard. Michaelangelo, nunchaku spinning wild, struck hard knocking him unconscious where he lay.

In spots the alley was now coated in the thick red of blood. Leonardo and Donatello stood together, Leonardo using a tattered bit of one of the fallen men`s shirt to wipe away the blood on his swords. He surveyed the chaos he and his brothers had caused, a somber expression crossing his face.

"We came like a wind of death on these men." Leonardo said, his tone dark.

Donatello eyed his brother as he stood there leaning on his bo. He wore an amused expression after hearing his brother attempting one of Splinter`s poetic descriptions. "They were coming to attack us, Leo, if we hadn't fought them in the streets they would have come into the sewers. Besides, what do you think would have happened to Casey if we hadn't got here in time?"

"I know," Leonardo said, his voice rising in tone. "It feels wrong, though. These men aren't warriors, they're confused children who made the wrong choice."

"Yeah, they chose to try and kill us." Michaelangelo was saying as he came up beside them, dragging the limp form of the man he knocked unconscious behind him. "This dude's still alive, Leo. Maybe he knows where we can find where they make the drug. Wouldn't that save us a bunch of grunt work?"

He had a point. Leonardo nodded. "Mikey, go and check on April and Splinter. Give us time to clean this place up and bring them here. We have to move, and now."

"Move?" Michealangelo asked. "Where to?"

"I say we move further into the city, " Leonardo answered.

"Leo, I haven't mapped those sewer systems out," Donatello said, standing up straight. "Hell, I haven't even seen some of those sewers in months."

"It's okay, bro," Michaelangelo said, "I'm sure we'll find something." He then turned and made his way back down the alley and into the sewer.

Meanwhile, Raphael had been standing with Casey over by April`s van, not talking. Being in one another`s company was all they needed. Leonardo and Donatello approached and Raphael knew his brother would start issuing orders.

"Raphael, Donatello, we need to clean this mess up." Raphael didn't move.

"Sure am glad we didn't kill nobody this fight." He said in a mocking, sarcastic tone. Leonardo turned to face his brother.

"We don't have time for this, Raphael." They were face to face now.

"Of course we don't." Raphael said and started walking towards the mess they had made. As he passed Leonardo he made sure to bump shoulders with him, hard. Leonardo let it pass, though his anger showed for just a moment. Donatello helped Raphael in the grizzly business of hiding the bodies. The only place they had to hide them was an old dumpster. It wasn't an honorable place to put the dead but then again these weren't men of honor and they had to hide them.

While the two turtles were handling the ugly work, Leonardo and Casey took the unconscious man and slapped him awake. With Casey pinning the man`s arms behind his back, Leonardo holding the tanto from his belt to the man`s neck, he awoke.

"Tell me one thing," Leonardo said, his tone cold as the grave. "Where is White Nirvana produced?"

The man`s face turned into a mask of panic. "Whoa, whoa!" He shouted. "I ain't no dealer, man! Shit! I just make the hits! Christ, what the Hell are you, man?"

"What do you mean you 'make the hits'?" Leonardo edged the blade closer, Casey still holding the man`s arms behind his back.

"Look, man, I ain't part of the drug operation. I'm a Purple Dragon. We get a call to take out problems and we get it done. That's what I was doing here." It was then that the man saw what Donatello and Raphael were doing. Horror crossed his face. "Jesus, man, don't put me in no dumpster. Don't do that to me." He was actually crying.

Leonardo pressed the blade and positioned himself face to face with the man. "Tell me everything you know."

"Alright, alright!" The man shouted. All I know is some big wig makes the call to this guy, Hun. He's this big as Hell Purple Dragon." Casey`s eyebrows shot up. "He tells us where to go and who to hit, that's all I know. Please, let me go, man. That's all I know."

"Where do we find Hun?" Leonardo asked.

"I dunno," the man answered, tears beginning to stream down his face. "I don't get to contact him, man. Please, lemme go."

"I'll let you go but I know your face now, I ever see you on the streets again and a dumpster will be a nice place compared to what I do to you. Understand?" The man nodded, tears still streaming down his face. Leonardo lowered his blade and Casey let go of the man`s arms. Quick as a bolt the man was running, whimpering, and soon out of sight.

It wasn't long after Donatello and Raphael were done that Michaelangelo, April and Splinter joined them. April had noticed the red staining the ground and chose to ignore it. They all gathered around the van as Leonardo went over what the Dragon had said.

"Lemme get this straight," Raphael was saying, his voice biting. "You had a man at blade point and all you got was a name so you just let him go?"

"What was I supposed to do, Raphael?" Leonardo asked. "Beat him to a pulp?"

"I dunno, you're the brave leader. Shouldn't you know what to do in that kind of situation?"

"Oh," Leonardo said, "I guess I should have asked you since you're the pro!" He was raising his voice.

"Maybe you should have!" Raphael shouted, getting in his brother`s face. "I at least wouldn'ta let the punk go!"

Leonardo had had enough of his brother`s constant testing. "Get out of my face, Raph!"

"Or what? You gonna boot me outta the family again?"

"Enough!" It was April. "Look, this is a terrible situation and fighting among yourselves isn't going to fix it! We don't have time for this, any of us. You have to get out of here. Now stop fighting. You're brothers, act like it!"

No one said a word. Splinter smiled at April briefly before at last saying; "She is right, we must leave now, my sons, there may be more coming."

"You heard him," April said in a tone only a mother could manage. "Get in the van!"


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Monday

Kate slowly began to open her eyes. She wasn't quite sure where she was but she was lying on an old matress. The moon was shining and it was bright, so very bright. Her body felt like liquid and everything around her was vibrating, she could feel her heart racing. She was lying in one corner of what looked like a dog kennel, the box eight by eight box made of fencing that the men who took care of her kept her in, a huge blue tarp draped over its top. She soon saw that the moonlight wasn't moonlight, it was a bulb dangling through one of the gaps in the fencing of the roof of the kennel. She lay there was a heap where she had been left, her clothes nasty and disheveled, her shirt half way up showing her stomach which she attempted to cover but couldn't quite get a hold of her shirt. She suddenly saw in her vision a giant head with the face of a girl with short brown hair. It floated in her vision for a moment and slowly shook.

"You okay?" The enormous globe said.

"Whassat?" Kate mumbled, her voice small like she was a million miles away.

"Scout!" The head, bobbing about shouted with thunderous noise.

"So...bright." Kate groaned, reaching towards the bulb, her eyes starting to roll into her head. She blacked out for just a moment before things shot back into focus and the enormous head was there with it`s giant arms shaking her.

"Oh God," The voice was now high and tiny, "How much did they give you?"

"S'Okay." Was all Kate said as she faded back to black.

* * *

Raphael and Michaelangelo were both standing at the edge of the rooftop of a squat apartment complex that was surrounded by brick buildings of similar size. The moon was out and a strong wind was blowing, sending the long ends of their red masks dancing in the air with its current. The sky was clear but with all the lights in the area, none of the stars could be seen from where they stood. Loud music from a club down the street and the sounds of traffic and voices of the people below climbed up the side of the building and bombarded their hearing. They were watching the building across the street from them, a pub called the West. It was a corner building at the edge of an intersection with a triangular shape and wooden shutters. In the night lights it looked like a weird face going "Oh" with its odd rounded doorway and large windows.

They had a simple objective: find out if Artie was telling the truth about Ross and his movements. If they found Ross, maybe he would lead them to Hun and maybe find out who was in charge of this whole operation. Considering Raphael had needed the exercise after a couple days resting and Michaelangelo had needed something to do, they were picked for the job.

"Look!" Michaelangelo suddenly cried, pointing. Raphael`s eyes followed the direction he was pointing and there, rounding the corner was a man fitting Ross` description. He was a tall thin man of African descent with his hair died bleach blonde. His clothes were three sizes too big and he walked with a swaying motion that was more to hold his pants up than to look cool. A cigarette was dangling from his lips as he spoke into a cell phone. As he rounded the corner both turtles` eyes suddenly spread wide open beneath the angry white eyes of their masks as the biggest human being they had ever seen followed behind their target. He stood at least a foot and a half taller than Ross. He wore a leather vest with a sleeveless white shirt underneath, showing off the enormous muscular arms. There on his left arm was the huge purple dragon tattoo that coiled its way around and up the thick arm. The turtles watched in awe as the two disappeared into the doorway of the West.

"Sonuvabitch!" Raphael muttered. Michaelangelo was taken aback as well. He looked and noticed his brother reaching for the sais on either side of his belt and reached out and gently touched his Raphael`s right hand.

"No, Raph. There's way too many people down there. Don't be stupid. They'll have to come out of there eventually and we'll follow, okay?" Raphael gritted his teeth and nodded, tucking the half-drawn sais back into his belt. Maybe Leonardo had more purpose in sending Michaelangelo than he had let on. Michaelangelo was easily the main voice Raphael would listen too.

After an hour of watching the main entrance the thought came to them that if there was a back exit, they wouldn't see it if their marks used it to leave and so using the night to their advantage moved around the buildings on their side of the street, keeping their eyes ever on the old building and across and back to the roof of the pub, flitting like shadows. Once there they saw there was an alley stretching out from behind the West and on down behind the other buildings on this street but all they saw on the ground were trash cans and refuse. Once they had climbed up using their steel climbing claws, Raphael took to watching the front door and Michaelangelo the rear, both hoping they hadn't missed the two thugs leaving.

They stood there for a couple of hours with nothing happening. Both were growing bored and worried they'd missed the pair leaving when suddenly the door leading to the alley opened and out stepped the two men. Ross was again on the phone with the enormous Hun standing beside him. Michaelangelo, spotting the pair, signaled his brother to come and see, Raphael hurriedly running, bent down, to Michaelangelo`s side. They couldn't hear what Ross was saying for the music booming from down the street but they could tell he was angry by the way he was waving his hands and seemed to be shouting, finally throwing the phone and smashing it into the wall.

"You and him might actually get along, Raph." Michaelangelo whispered jokingly to ease the silent tension. Raphael made a silent, mock laughing impression and continued to watch when the headlights of a car suddenly swerved into the alleyway. It was a black limosine which pulled in and stopped just in front of the two figures below. Hun reached out and opened a set of duel doors, Ross climbing in and the huge man following. The turtles couldn't help but notice that this car had to have been specially made for Hun because it took both doors being open for him to actually squeeze the enormous width of his shoulders in. As soon as the doors were closed the car pulled forward, easing on down the alleyway.

"We gotta follow 'em!" Raphael said urgently, looking to Michaelangelo as the limousine was slowly disappearing down the alley. Michaelangelo was still watching the car, trying to figure out what to do.

"I dunno, Raph. I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Mikey, we gotta follow 'em. They could lead us right to wherever all that junk is made.

"Yeah," Michaelangelo answered, "but they could also lead us to their dry cleaners for all we know. Come on, man. We did what Leo told us to, now let's get back so we can help Donnie fix the new place up."

Raphael crossed his arm and grunted. "You can go home, I'm gonna follow these zipheads and find out where they're going." With that he turned and started running the length of the building and jumped over to the next rooftop.

"Dammit, Raph!" Michaelangelo shouted and followed his brother, not wanting him to go alone. He caught up to Raphael just as the limo had stopped at the end of the alley. They continued running over the rooftops and leaping from building to building and managed to close the gap quite a bit as the car continued to sit at the end of the alley waiting for an opportunity to pull out into traffic. Michaelangelo pushed his speed and soon arrived at the building above the car, leaving his brother two buildings back. Traffic and pedestrians kept the limo from making its entrance into traffic.

Raphael finally caught up just in time to watch the car turn right making its way on down the road, away from them. The two turtles exchanged a quick glance and stepping back to the opposite end of the roof they were walking on took off at full speed jumping the width of the alley below. They were back at it, following the limousine as they bobbed and weaved through the obstacle course of rooftops like apes through the foliage of some jungle. Always they kept an eye on the car which moved at a good speed but all the traffic kept it from getting too far ahead.

Michaelangelo had again moved ahead when he came to a sudden stop. Raphael came running to his side, breathing heavy, and saw why he had hit the brakes: they were out of buildings. They were now standing atop a three story business complex with the roads running along its Western and Northern faces. The limousine, which they had actually managed to pass, was driving along the Western street and heading towards a bridge crossing over railroad tracks.

"We can't jump that." Michaelangelo said, "Let's just go home, what do you say?"

"No," Raphael said, "maybe we can hitch a ride?" He was looking down at the streets below, the limousine still sitting at the red light of the intersection of the two streets.

"What? You wanna call a taxi?"

"No, we use stealth." He pointed and as Michaelangelo looked he saw what it was Raphael had seen; a beat up pickup truck.

"No way, Raph." Too late. His impatient brother was already leapfrogging from balcony to balcony towards the ground level. There were still a few people on the ground who had to be seeing this but to Michaelangelo`s surprise no one was paying any attention. With a disappointed sigh he followed after Raphael who was now kneeling behind a thick shrub at the steps leading into the building about to make his move towards the truck. Michaelangelo moved up to the shrub just as his brother ran and jumped into the back of the truck, the driver, an older man wearing a plaid shirt and a trucker`s hat,looked back to see what had caused his truck to shake but seeing no one behind him and nothing out of the ordinary shrugged and looked back to the red light which turned green just as the truck shook once more.

The two turtles were laying against one another. There was an old tarp tied to one end of the truck`s bed that they had thrown over themselves just in case the driver or anyone pulling behind them in traffic and could see them. Michaelangelo had managed to raise himself up enough to peep in through the glass and could see that the limo was just ahead of them, the truck still following it. He lowered himself back down next to Raphael and spoke only just loud enough for his brother to hear him over the noise of the ride.

" So, genius, what do we do if Ross`car goes a different direction?"

"Uuuuhhh," was Raphael`s only response. He hadn't thought this through but he knew they had had to do something so he reacted. "If they turn, we'll have to jump out and make it to the rooftops."

"Good idea." Michaelangelo said, oozing sarcasm. The truck stayed on course for some time, sometimes getting right behind the limousine and other times getting a frightening distance behind but somehow managed to stay within sight of it. After some time at last the car did turn and the truck did not follow, the turtles watching as the limo vanished down another street. Both cursed but luck was with them as the truck came to a stop at a red light only one street up. They were surrounded by traffic, there were pedestrians everywhere and the streetlights overhead were flooding the intersection with light giving them very little in the way of options when idea struck. It was silly but Raphael and had reached down and ripped the rope that kept the tarp from flying away out of its loop. He then took hold of one end of the tarp and began to rise, Michaelangelo seeing this and understanding. It was silly but it may just work and so up and out they quickly jumped, the driver seeing his blue tarp float away jumped out of the cab of his truck just in time to see it running away back the way he'd come, the cars behind him honking as the light had turned green.

"This is one of the stupidest things I've ever done, Raph."

"It works, don't it?" People were watching the tarp move with expressions ranging from confusion to anger but no one approached them. Michaelanglo was leading the way as he'd found a hole in the tarp he could see through. They ran at full speed until at last they were heading the direction the limo had turned. They quickly ran behind one of the big buildings, discarding the tarp. Michaelangelo peeped out and around the corner to see if he could see the limousine in the distance and spotting it cheered. Luck continued to be with them.

"They stopped!" Michaelangelo shouted. Raphael was at his side in an instant, shoulder to shoulder with him, looking where his brother was pointing. The limousine was a good ways off but the doors gave it away. It was in front of a very nice looking brick building with a raised rooftop of green. There was quite a bit of light in this area but not as much traffic and there were very few people on the street. The buildings here were much taller than what they preferred and so leaping rooftop to rooftop was not an option but there were plenty of shadows between buildings.

"Let's go get 'em!" Raphael said and started forward but Michaelangelo caught him by his arm and pulled him back.

"Whoa, we can't go in there." Michaelangelo said.

"Why not?"

"Because, Raph, there could be a whole army in there for all we know. Even you're not that dumb."

Raphael knew his brother was right and so he simply nodded and in a calm voice said, "Okay, but this don't look like no drug warehouse, looks more like a bank. Shouldn't we at least get close enough to see what the place is?" He had a point. Michaelangelo nodded and led the way. They chose to stick to the streets and move swiftly from shadow to shadow, mostly running from one gap between buildings to the next and after a few minutes of this they were finally at their destination, hid behind a set of trashcans at the corner of the nearest building. They could see it was much shorter than the other buildings, being only five stories where the others were far taller. It was surrounded by lush green grass and a tall tree grew at the rear of the building. The front entrance had marble steps with tall statues of viking warriors, one wielding an ax overhead with both arms and the other brandishing a sword and shield, guarding either side. Just at the top of the steps there was a fountain with a huge, fearsome looking fish spouting water which tinkled down and through its basin. Just past that was the thick glass of the entrance which had a revolving door, a dim glow of light coming through the glass.

At the bottom of the steps the turtles could see the limousine they had followed. From where they stood they could not tell if anyone was inside of it or not. The safest approach to the building would be from the side they were at, right when facing the buildings entrance, and climb using their steel climbing claws, up on to the roof and if possible go inside or make for a window and see what this place was. They ran for the wall, Raphael slowing for a split second as he spotted another car in front of the limousine that looked strangely familiar. He shook it off and continued, the two of them slipping their claws over their hands as soon as they were in position. Up they climbed avoiding the windows which were all very wide with thick, dark glass in them. In a matter of minutes they had reached the roof which was made of a smooth stone that was cool to the touch. The roof went up at an angle and flattened at the center of the building. This is where they climbed to and found in the middle of the flat space a wide panel of glass panes for sun to pour into the top floor.

Looking in they were shocked to see the top floor was a single room, a huge space that looked like something from a fantasy story. It had thick wooden doors with a tree engraved in them at its entrance and huge wood columns with torches hanging on sconces of metal and the floor was also wooden. There was a round fire pit in the center, just beneath the pane of glass which probably could be opened somehow from below to allow smoke to exit when a fire was going. Shoved into one corner was a thick desk fashioned of wood similar to the floors with a computer and a large chair behind it. On either side of the desk were wooden racks with varying swords, axes and shields cradled in the crotches of its limbs. Michaelangelo made a low whistle when in through the doors came a woman almost as tall as Hun. They could tell in the low torchlight that her hair was blonde and was pulled back in a thick bun atop her head. She wore a dark blue buttoned jacket and matching skirt and red high heeled shoes with straps encircling her thick muscled calves. She was followed in by Ross and Hun, Ross tossing his arms about and shouting, his words muffled by the glass and height.

The turtles watched from their perch for some time as the woman went to her desk and sat while Ross continued to wave his arms about, obviously frustrated at some situation. Hun stood a few feet away from him to the side, silent, and watched. The lady stood and was speaking as she walked to one of the racks and stood there a moment as Ross continued to speak before picking up a huge double-headed ax with a long wooden handle. She held it out in front of her as if showing it off, again speaking, Ross raising one hand up, shielding himself and using the other to hold up his pants. He took a few steps back, the lady following him the ax now held in one hand to her side. Walking backwards, Ross tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground, one of his shoes flopping off. The lady was still talking, a calm expression on her face, as she came and stood over him, still holding his hand out. When she finished whatever she was saying she stood over him a moment turning and taking a few steps away, relief coming over Ross` features. Suddenly the woman turned, her expression changing to fury, lifted the ax up and over her head and with horrible force and speed slammed it down over and over and over again severing limbs, slicing at his flesh and turning Ross` head into nothing more than a stain. Over and over the ax fell until at last, breathing heavily, she tossed the ax down and looked to Hun who`s face had turned to stone. She then spoke and gesturing at the pile of red ooze on the floor walked past him and out the double doors.

"Jesus..." Raphael whispered.

"No, more like Thor." Michaelangelo said, shaking his head. "We better bail, bro, so we can get some help and take this bitch down. I think we might have found who's in charge.

"Right." Raphael said distantly, Artie`s face had come to his mind after seeing the rage filled attack. Michaelangelo shook him out of his reverie and he two of them eased down the incline of the rooftop and made their way down the wall. This time they were much slower, it being more difficult to find a good purchase while looking down but after a time they were on the ground. As they had made their way to the building they had spotted a sewer entrance a couple buildings down and were turning to head that way when suddenly a voice called out, "Hold it!"

The turtles turned and there saw coming from around the corner of the building at least six men, all in suits, each with a pistol in hand. Raphael didn't hesitate and with the precision given him though years of training he drew and tossed one of his sais which stuck in the end of the closest pistol to him. "Run! Get the others!" He shouted to Michaelangelo who obeyed and with all the speed he could muster ran to the sewer entrance and vanished beneath the pavement just as the loud noise of gunfire echoed down the street.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Morning

Leonardo, Donatello, Casey Jones, April O'Neil and Splinter were all sitting on a rug on the floor, the warm light of a lamp sitting on an old box lighting their faces. They had been hard at work most of the night getting the turtles` things situated in what would serve as their new home, having decided to at last risk going back to their old place and grab some of their essential things and brought them here. Donatello had managed to splice into the lighting system of the sewers so at least they had some light, though there were wires everywhere at the moment until he had time to fully wire up the place and clean up the connections. Their new home was a short, round tunnel with a drain in the center of the room, likely it was once a drain for the excess waters in the tunnels. It was only one large room with small, orange tile all along the roof, floor and walls but it was warm and big enough for them to fit and one day bring in their furniture.

A silence had come over all of them as they had spent so much time moving things. It wasn't that there was so much stuff to move but the fact of moving it in and through the sewers, that was what made the move so exhausting. The only furniture they had managed to bring were the cots from their old bedroom. These were shoved into one of the round corners. There were boxes all around them stacked high atop one another.

"I guess we should start unpacking." Donatello said. He was sitting Indian style beside the lamp and box.

April had been sitting with her back to one of the walls, resting her neck, it had been a long walk with the heavy boxes in their arms. She was wearing a set of sweats, the shirt cut off to show just a bit of her stomach, the sleeves rolled up past her elbows. "You guys need help?" She asked. She was tired but she knew she wasn't the only one and the turtles and Casey had insisted on doing most of the lifting and carrying and she felt like she should do more.

"You have done enough, Ms. O'Neil." Splinter insisted, his head bowed and his eyes closed in a half-meditation. "We are ever in your and Casey`s debt. Both of you have shown us far too much favor."

"Hey," Casey said, sitting next to April, his legs stretched out and crossed in front of him, "you guys have pulled my fat outta the fryin' pan a few times now, I owe ya." He had not changed out of the clothes April had given him since that day at the hospital, a fact April had continued to point out.

"Your debt is paid and then some, Mr. Jones."

"Just Casey, Master Splinter." He said in a respectful tone. Splinter nodded his head and looked to his sons.

"Let us get to unpacking what we have. You two may go home and rest now, you have helped us much."

"You're sure?" April asked, standing and stretching.

"Yes," Leonardo said from the box he had been sitting on, breaking his brooding silence. "You've done so much for us. We're indebted to you both."

Casey rose to his feet to join April. "If you're sure? You guys need anything, you know where to find me." They all exchanged goodbyes, April exchanging sweaty hugs with the turtles and their father. The two of them walked out of the tunnel in silence and into the wide, concrete tunnel curving out and away to the right from the turtles` home. They hadn't gone far when they could hear the patter of footfalls echoing through the tunnels. Casey reached out and gently pushed April up against the concrete wall and stopped, his hand still resting on her shoulder. The footfalls were quickly approaching and soon they could hear heavy breathing when at last a thick short shadow came rushing around the corner. Closer and closer it came until at last one of the small bulbs overhead in the tunnel gave enough light to show that it was Michaelangelo, nunchaku still in hand. Casey jumped from the wall.

"Yo, Mikey!" Casey shouted. Michaelangelo looked up in surprise and seeing who it was continued running until he came up beside the two of them and collapsed at Casey`s feet. He gasped between words. "Raphael...Trouble..."

Raphael was being dragged by his arms by one of the men in suits on either side of him. He had put up a good fight but in the end dodging bullets had taken all of his energy until he finally slipped up and the five guards had seized their chance. They rushed in and had beaten him into submission and now were dragging him through the room he and Michaelangelo had been spying on not even an hour ago. There was a trickle of blood cascading down the gunshot wound in his left shoulder. His face was bruised and swollen, his thin lip split. He wasn't putting up much of a fight as he had worn himself down way too quick in the fight trying to fight hand-to-hand in a gunfight.

"And so, I see the truth before my eyes." It was a thickly accented voice, the voice of a woman. Raphael raised his head and could see that it was the woman from before, sitting at her desk. Her hair was now hanging in thick braids down her shoulders. Instead of the skirt and heels she now wore a black corset that came just to the top of her breasts over a black linen shirt. Her pants were of tan leather and she wore thick boots that tied up her shins just beneath her knees. Beside her stood Hun who eyed the turtle with an odd expression. "So it would appear Arthur and Ross weren't lieing, eh? Too bad." She said with a mocking tone. She then rose to her feet, kicking out from behind the desk, and approached the turtle who struggled to hold his head up and look her in the eye. She was taller than either of the men holding him.

"This the set of the next Conan movie?" Raphael asked in a mocking tone. The woman simply laughed as she stood examining him. She reached out and grabbed his chin with an incredible grip, twisting and turning his head to look at him.

"No, creature, I am Valborga of Sweden. You see, I take great pride in the blood which flows through my veins, the blood of vikings. I live as close to their traditions as I can in these days of constant change." She released his chin and walked back behind her desk, throwing herself into the thick chair. "My men found you wandering outside, why is this?" Raphael said nothing. He was nearly able to stand under his own power, the two men keeping their arms looped around his. "Silence? Tell me, where is the other creature?" Still more silence. For just a moment her left eyebrow quivered, anger brewing beneath the surface of her face. "Take him below and give him a taste of our most precious product. In time his tongue will loose." The two men turned, pulling Raphael away and towards the ornate double doors when he at last made his move. He tripped the man on his left by curling his leg around his captor`s shin and shoving. As the man fell his arm was released. Hun started forward but Valborga held out her arm, a curious expression on her face. With lightning speed Raphael pulled with the arm still held by the other man and pulling the guard forward drove the knuckles of his free hand into the other man`s face who fell backwards but held on tight to Raphael`s arm. Raphael then took hold of the man around the head with his free arm and jumping drove his padded knee hard into the man`s chin, teeth pouring from the guard`s mouth as he fell unconcious to the ground.

Raphael turned and with a terrible took off running straight for Valborga. Just before reaching her desk he jumped and kicked out ready to use his momentum to drive his foot into the center of her mass when, fast beyond fast, she rose and grabbed him in mid-air and used his momentum against him, spinning around and slamming him down with incredible force through her desk, the wood giving way right through its center leaving Raphael lying there in the rubble, papers floating slowly to the ground. A pleasured expression covered her face as she rose to her feet and looked at her fallen foe.

"I like this one." She said. "This one fights. Take him, since my guards apparently can not, and do as I instructed." Hun nodded and came forward. The turtle was unconcious in a heap in the pile of what was left of the desk. Hun then reached down and with one hand pulled Raphael out and up onto one of his shoulders. He looked to Valborga who was still smiling as he edged out the double doors and vanished down the hall.

Leonardo,Donatello, Michaelangelo and Casey Jones were moving through the sewers. They couldn't see it but the Sun was shining bright over New York. They knew they had no choice but to move below ground. Earlier, when Michaelangelo had finally rested enough to tell his story, they had shot into action, ready to find and save Raphael. Casey had had the foresight to keep his gear in April`s van and had fetched it and now wore his golfbag full of weaponized sports gear and had donned the threatening hockey mask he wore to hide his features and the fingerless gloves protecting his hands. He was worrying about Raphael inside but moving was keeping him from thinking about what might be and so on he ran. He was behind Leonardo who was behind Donatello who led the way, a map in his hand and his bo and utility bag over his shell. Their pace would often slow as it was hard to figure out exactly where they were. They had never mapped these sewers but by using a map of the city could make a close guess to their whereabouts.

They had been travelling for some time now when Donatello suddenly stopped. They now stood at a T-shaped intersection where another tunnel crossed theirs and against the far wall they could see the ladder leading up and out of the sewers. "This is it." Donatello said, lifting the flap of his bag and putting the map away. " At least I think it is."

"Let me make sure." Casey said. "You said a green roof, right?" He was speaking to Michaelangelo who had been lagging behind in the rear.

"Yeah," Michaelangelo said in a tired voice. The toll on his body was beginning to show. Casey looked at the worn turtle a moment before crossing the water that flowed through the intersection and going to the ladder on the wall. He lay down his gear and gingerly sat his mask down on the bag and started climbing. Once at the top he pushed the manhole cover up, just enough to get a peek out, and seeing no traffic coming pushed the lid up and off. Sitting on the pavement, his feet still dangling in the manhole, he surveyed the area. It was bright out, his eyes not quite ready for the light, but there was little traffic out, a single car passing him and honking. He could see the building Michaelangelo had described a block away and with a relieved espressiong quickly climbed back down the ladder and signalled the turtles with a thumbs up as he put on his gear. He climbed back up, this time climbing all the way out, standing in the middle of the road. There were a few people walking and staring but once they were gone he signalled the turtles out and covered the manhole when the last of them had made it.

They took off running as fast as they could and other than scaring a few passersby made it to the side of the building where Michaelangelo had last seen his brother. The grass was uprooted in a few places and there was a small pool of blood as they checked for signs of Raphael`s survival. They soon found tracks and could see that something had been dragged towards the rear of the building. Leonardo was kneeling, double-checking the tracks with Donatello standing beside of him, Casey, mask off, down watching for pedestrians. Michaelangelo was standing nearby, watching the rear of the building, remembering the sight of the men coming around and the final image of his brother taking the fight to their enemy so he could escape. He was regretting having run away but standing and arguing with Raphael would have only been a distraction to his defending brother. He was staring at the last place he'd seen Raphael when just like before men in suits came walking around the corner fully armed with assault rifles and tactical shotguns this time. In an instant the group was surrounded. Everyone drew their weapons, Casey coming up beside the turtles, everyone except Leonardo who raised his hands in surrender.

"Leo?" Michaelangelo said, outraged, twirling his nunchaku, ready to make a stand this time.

"No, Mikey." Leonardo said, his voice calm and reserved. Everyone exchanged confused glances but finally lowered their weapons, the men coming and seizing them roughly, taking their weapons. Once everyone was disarmed, no easy task, they guided the group at gunpoint around the building and into a door at the rear, just beneath the tall tree. There was a stone path leading to the tree and a bench of dark wood nestled in the shade of the great tree. Once inside they were shoved down a long hallway lined with marble and gold trim, until they came to the end where there was a set of elevator doors and another door leading to stairs. They were forced into and up the winding stairwell, four men in the front with Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Casey, in that order, following,the rest of the men behind them.

Once at the top of the stairs they exited the stairwell and came into a second hallway where there was a second set of elevator doors. The hallway here was a dark green with a single grey stripe running horizontally down the walls. Their were very few other doors in the area, until the group rounded a corner and there at the end of a short windowless hall stood a set of ornate wooden doors, two fully armed guards on either side. Through these doors they were escorted and there saw the wide room that Michaelangelo had described to them earlier. There in the corner was a group of men in regular clothes cleaning up the rubble of the desk, setting the pieces aside. At the sight of everyone coming in they stopped and moved to the other end of the room, their eyes widening at the sight of the turtles.

"Well, well, well." Said Valborga who had been overseeing the work done to her desk. "So my green friend is not the only one of his kind?" She came to the group, the guard at the front of the column coming to her side.

"Madam," he said in a respectful tone, "we found them on the grounds snooping around. What should we do with them?" Valborga stood thinking a moment, her chin resting in her hand as she crossed her arms.

"Take them below for now. There is too much to be done just yet. Bind them and toss them in one of the cages. Do not put them with the other." Valborga`s men all nodded and still holding the group at gunpoint led them back the way they had come. They began the climb back down the stairs and once they reached the first floor of the building they continued down unti they finally hit the basement floor. They walked out of the stairwell and into a dim lit corridor of concrete. There was a freight elevator there, where they were led and piled in. At the push of a button from one of their captors the elevator jumped and began to lower coming to a sudden stop after a short time. The button pusher then pulled a key from his coat pocket and slid it into a keyhole on the elevator`s panel and it suddenly dropped again and continued to lower.

Once the elevator finally came to a stop the doors opened and a horrible stench hit the group. It was a strange chemical smell. They were led out of the elevator and into an enormous room made much like a warehouse might be. The walls were concrete and there were steel beams supporting steel rafters high overhead. There were plastic curtained partitions everywhere forming a strange maze. Through the gaps the group could see that there were people working at stations with a mix of chemistry equipment at each one, none of the workers looking up as they passed. There were beakers, benson burners, strange vats and steel pots and more. Still they were marched through the labyrinth of lab stations to the back of this huge room where there were five cages made from fencing material, all covered with various colored tarps, in a deep depression in the wall. At the corner of the depression was a small wooden shack built into the wall. One of the armed guard went to the door and knocked, a bald, greasy looking, thin man stepping out with a grunt. They could hear laughter from a television show coming from the shack.

"More freaks for your collection. The Lady wants them put away and not with the other one." The greasy man nodded, rubbing his chin.

"I got one that ain't bein' used. Put 'em in there." The greasy man said, reaching into the open door of the shack he produced a handfull of plastic zip-ties and handed them to the guard. While the guard was going from turtle to turtle, finishing with Casey, binding their arms together at the wrist, the greasy man went and pulled the tarp aside on one of the cages. It was brief but Donatello spotted two girls, one huddled over the other, as the tarp fluttered up.

"Nope, wrong one." Said the greasy man, walking to the cage next to it. He again yanked up the tarp and this time it was empty. The cage had a fenced door with a lock keeping it from opening. The man produced a key and unlocked it, opening the door. The guards, seeing it opened, began marching the turtles in. Leonardo took note as he stepped in that the greasy man was armed, a pistol stuck down the front of his pants. Just as Casey was about to enter the cell as well one of the suited guards grabbed him and yanked him back.

"That's enough in one cage, put him with the other freak." The greasy man nodded and murmuring something about it being on the guard`s head, closed the door and locked the others in, yanking the tarp down and covering the cage. He then went to the furthest left and yanked the tarp up just as before and opened the door. Casey could hear a muttering voice coming from inside as he was led roughly to the entrance where he was shoved in and tripped over the lip of the entrance, landing hard on the concrete floor. The greasy man laughed as he shut and locked the door and yanked down the tarp. Casey lay there a minute, the cool concrete soothing the ache of the fall. He could hear the voice better now and recognized the voice. Raphael. He turned, rolling on his stomach and saw the turtle huddled in the corner of the cage, his knees pulled into his chest.

"Yo, ziphead, gimme a hand?" Casey asked but Raphael didn't move. The turle was looking around and muttering to himself, like Casey wasn't even there. "Raph?" He edged himself over and, leaning against the entrance to balance himself, managed to get to his feet. He walked over to the turtle who was still looking around, a wild expression on his features. Someone had pulled his mask down around his neck so his actual eyes were showing, a dark brown. His eyes were going everywhere, dialated. Casey leaned down, a look of concern chiseled into his features, as he listened to his friend. It wasn't even words, to him it sounded like "Umina numina" over and over.

"Raph, snap out of it!" Casey shouted.

Raphael suddenly stopped looking around, his eyes focusing on Casey. "C-Casey?" He whispered.

"Yeah, bro. Thank God, you're okay. Guys, he's okay!" He shouted, hoping the others could hear him. Judging by the muffled sounds next to him, they heard.

"How?" Raphael was struggling to speak. "How did-How did you get-"

"Mikey, he told us you were here. Jesus, man, you're bleeding!" He was staring at Raphael`s shoulder. He had been relieved to see his friend but now that he knew he was alive he saw that Raphael was battered and bruised, the gunshot wound the worst of the lot.

"Just a scratch." Raphael said, a bit more strength in his voice.

"Yeah, that don't look like no scratch to me." Casey said. The cage next to them where the others were had grown quiet, the brothers obviously listening to Raphael and Casey, making sure the sai-wielding turtle was okay. Suddenly they heard footsteps and the jingling of keys. The entrance to Casey and Raphael`s cage opened at the turning of the key, the greasy man stepping inside. He wasn't alone, there was a second man with him, a tall man with a big gut and stout arms, a purple dragon tattooed on his left shoulder. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and camo fatigues with thick black boots. In his hands he held a black tactical shotgun, aiming it at the weakened turtle.

"Time for another dose," the greasy man said with a sadistic grin as he produced a plastic case out of one of his pockets and stood over Raphael. Casey noticed this put the greasy man in the line of fire with the shotgun. Quick as he could he kicked the shotgun causing it to misfire just as the barrel was forced up. There were surprised screams from all around the cages and the other turtles were shouting. "What was that?" "Guys?" The smell of gunpowder filled the cage, a haze of smoke coming over the room. The greasy man had taken the majority of the buckshot from the weapon in the back, forcing him forward where he landed on Raphael. The turtle tossed the grinning corpse aside and leapt for the weapon now lieing on the floor, its previous owner reaching for it as well. They arrived at the same time and played tug of war a moment, both standing on their knees, the barrel pointing up at the ceiling. Casey, hands still bound behind him, could only watch, afraid kicking at the man might cause another misfire. Both were growling with the effort to pull the weapon away from the other. Raphael had finally had enough and using the force the man was pulling with, plus his own, slammed the weapon into the man`s face, causing the man to lose his grip and fall backwards. Raphael didn't hesitate, he turned the weapon and fired, blasting the man in the chest, his back erupting in a red mist, buckshot hitting the concrete behind him. There were more screams.

Raphael quickly started rifling through the man`s pockets and found a simple folding pocket knife. He took it and slid it open and cut Casey`s hands free. Casey rubbed his aching wrists and went to the other corpse, that of the greasy man, and took the keys hanging from the man`s belt loop.

"Come on, Raph." Casey said. "Someone had to hear that. Let's get the others and get outta here."


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

End

Valborga stood looking out her window at the city surrounding her, arms crossed in front of her. She wore the same outfit she'd been wearing save that she had loosed the braids she had put her hair in and now let her golden locks hang around her shoulders. She appeared fearsome, though her expression was that of deep thought. She hadn't slept for some time, having to deal with the strange creatures which had found their way to her place of "business" and in her exhaustion had taken to reflecting. She had come to America with an idea, even if it wasn't a particularly nice one. She had started at the bottom of the drug-world and after years had clawed her way up but she wanted more. She wanted New York. Addict the streets to her drug, a drug she'd designed herself when on the streets at home, and once the streets were in her hands, spread it out and climb the ladder. She just needed one politician, one person with a title and she could move into bigger and better things. To do this she would unite every drug rink in the city, claiming their stakes and get them selling only her product to form a united crime syndicate like nothing ever seen before. She would control it all but keeping the other leaders in check would be a serious undertaking, luckily she had the Purple Dragons though she would have to set up some sort of training for them, they fell too easy. Then of course she would have to deal with the Foot. A whispered name but if they were real, she would have to find a way.

"They're here." It was the deep voice of Hun who had quietly opened the double doors.

A wicked smile crossed her face. "Let them come."

* * *

Raphael stood watch, the shotgun he'd wrestled from his captor in hand at the ready. After the gunfire from the fight people were running out of the curtained laboratories in a wild panic and heading for the freight elevator at the other end of the wide warehouse. He knew that there would have to be some other guards who heard and that he would have to be ready.

"Kate?" A voice exclaimed, it was Michaelangelo. Casey had been working at the cages, unlocking them and letting the turtles loose before going and checking the others. There he'd found the two girls and helped to carry one of them out.

"M-Mikey?" The soft female voice said. Raphael had turned to see for just a second and it was, in fact, her, though she was a wreck. He turned back to his guard just in time to see, off in the rear, a column of the suited guards coming.

"Incoming!" He shouted. Leonardo had run for the shack as soon as he was set free. He hoped to find more firearms but luck was with him and actually managed to find his and everyone else`s gear. When Raphael shouted he had just finished passing out everyone`s weapons, Casey donning his mask instantly, letting Kate go only long enough to strap on the golf bag. There were no other guns in the shack but they had taken the pistol from the greasy man and given it to Amber, the girl helping Kate.

"We have to get them out of here," Donatello was saying as he checked over Kate, making sure it was okay for her to be moved. He hadn't found any injuries so he assumed it was the drug making her immobile.

Suddenly Raphael was on the move hiding behind a large metal trash bin at the corner of one of the curtained stalls. The shotgun suddenly roared to life, a scream of pain coming from the direction he had fired. It was on. Guns were firing like mad, rounds bouncing and hitting all around the cages, the group scattering and clambering for cover behind anything they could find. Raphael fired again and another scream echoed around. Suddenly Donatello stood and was running to the right side of the building, his bag around his shoulder and his weapon in hand. He clattered to the ground just beneath a large steal box, ripping its covering off. It was a breaker box. He reached into his bag and withdrew a pair of pliers and thrust them hard into the box, sparks flying everywhere and the lights overhead flickering off.

Suddenly there were shouts and wild firing. The turtles had used the darkness to their advantage and once the lights were out moved in on the group of guards. The white eyes of their masks filtered the darkness enough for them to see a little better than their opponents and so the fight was one-sided. Leonardo had led the silent charge, leaping in and spinning wild, severing limbs, guns misfiring as they struck the ground. Michaelangelo had followed in and grabbed hold of one of the guards with a larger weapon, twisting the man`s arm, breaking it over his shell. The man screamed and dropped his weapon. Raphael had sat down his shotgun and moved in, sais at the ready. He leapt and wrapping his legs around his opponent from behind, stabbed his sais deep into the man`s chest, his left-hand sai connecting with the man`s heart, dropping him instantly. Donatello had been farthest away and had leapt atop one of the frames of the plastic curtains and using it to vault himself up, slammed his staff hard down onto the head of one of the guards wielding a deadlier looking weapon. Casey had stayed behind, it was pitch dark to him so he chose to remain near the girls in case any of the guards had tried to come for them.

There were still quite a few of the guard left and knowing they were being attacked they had started to fire wild, a couple of them screaming, all of them shouting at one another to cease fire. It was too late, one the men had seen movement in the flash of one of the shots and fired his pistol at it just in time to see the death mask of one of his own allies in the flash from his weapon. It was chaos but the turtles could see they needed to move, at least until the shooting stopped. They had just started moving, using the frames just as Donatello had to stay overhead, out of range, when they heard a sudden cry. It wasn't one of the men but a feminine voice. Instantly fear crossed all their hearts as they raced to the two girls and Casey.

They could hear a voice, "No no no," it kept saying. It was the voice of the other girl, or at least the turtles thought since it obviously wasn't Casey and didn't sound like Kate. Donatello was there first. He quickly reached into his bag and forgetting their situation flicked on a flashlight. Its circle of light was centered on the young girl who held Kate in her arms, lying on the ground. Kate had a wound over her heart and her eyes were open, staring blank. She wasn't blinking. Donatello checked her pulse as the voices of the guard rose at the sight of the light, the sound of running feet coming toward them. He looked up at Leonardo who was now kneeling beside the girl and shook his head.

"They're comin', Leo." Raphael said in a worried tone. "What do we do?"

Leonardo`s head hang low as he spoke, his voice quiet but his tone chilling to the bone. "Burn it to the ground."

* * *

Valborga now stood where her desk had once been. Before her stood at least twenty men; some in suits, some in street clothes. They were of varying ethnicity but all of them shared one thing in common: They were the chiefs of the drug trade in New York. All of them had heard of the drug White Nirvana as it had spread like a cancer through the city. It had forced some of them out, their own products now considered either too expensive or not worth the risk. The woman before them was the cause of a lot of grief and now, now she had invited them here to discuss "future endeavors." Behind her stood the enormous Hun who was watching the crowd, at the ready. Every man had been disarmed, their weapons kept outside the double doors but these were men who lived dangerously and were prepared for anything.

"So you see," Valborga was saying, "if you work for me, I can promise you great stakes in this city. We will run these streets and one day, when we've made it ours, we will branch out further until you all have a city of your own. What say you?"

The only reply she received was silence. The men before her looking around at one another when suddenly a shot rang out from the back, the bullet striking the wall behind Valborga. Hun was on the move instantly, grabbing Valborga and quickly shoving her behind him as he ran through the crowd of men and grabbed hold of the man who'd shot. He held the man by his arm, a pistol held in the captured hand. Hun squeezed hard, the arm snapping and the man screaming with pain as he was picked up by the huge man and slammed into the wall, a crater left in the paneling as he slumped to the ground. The rest of the group looked at the fallen man just as there was a low rumble and the floor suddenly shaking. A couple of the group fell, Valborga as well. She stood suddenly when the rumbling ceased and ceasing the same axe she had used on Ross, edged towards the group.

"Is this some trick?" She said, her eyes wide and a fury covering her features. "You wish to usurp what I have made? How dare you!" She was suddenly in the group, roaring like some beast, swinging her axe with terrible speed and power. Men fell left and right. Heads fell from their neck and limbs shot through the air as she passed from man to man with a speed unbelievable. Hun took her cue and joined in, picking up one of the drug lords and dropping him over his knee, snapping his back, a terrible scream escaping the man as he fell. In no time the group was decimated.

Valborga stood,breathing heavily, like a berserker of yore amidst the red carnage on the wooden floor, bodies surrounding her like the rubble of some crumbled wall. Hun came to her side just as an explosion blew the double doors open, sending the two of them flying, a great hole where the doors and wall had once been. As the smoke and dust settled, Valborga could see that there, atop the rubble, stood all four of the creatures she'd captured and the man from before, or so she thought though his face was hidden behind his mask. The creature at the front was standing, one foot atop a bit of wall, his swords held limp down at his side. He held one of the blades up and pointed it towards Valborga as she climbed to her feet, Hun joining her, a deep gash in the side of his forehead, blood seeping down his face.

"A girl is dead because of you." Leonardo said, a burning hatred in his tone. "How many others have their been?"

"The dead are dead," She said. "I do not count them. In this life, some must die so others can live and live better."

"You call this a good life?" Leonardo asked, mockingly. "I call this a mockery. You have to be stopped."

"Then come, freak. Stop me." She had taken hold of her axe again and now held her arms wide apart, welcoming the challenge. Leonardo was happy to oblige but just as he was preparing to leap forward, Michaelangelo was running past. Valborga was taken by surprise by the turtle`s speed but she managed to set her axe ready to deliver a killing blow but Michaelangelo was not Raphael. He was much faster. She hurled the axe forward, Michaelangelo ducking low and in a burst of speed twisted himself around her and taking one of the handles of his nunchaku in either hand, put the nunchaku around her neck, the rope cutting into her throat, placing his knee in the middle of her shoulders and pulling with all of his strength. Hun edged forward as her axe clambered to the floor, attempting to stop the turtle choking her. Just as he stepped out Casey Jones was there.

"You and me got a score to settle, biggun'." Casey said. He was holding a baseball bat in either hand. There was a horrible 'pop' and both looked and saw Valborga slump to the ground, Michaelangelo standing over her limp form. Suddenly all eyes were on Hun. The big man took a step back from Casey and took one quick look at everyone, weapons in hand, and turned and ran, diving through one of the windows of the room and fell to the ground hard. The turtles and Casey ran to the window, light pouring in through the now wide open hole left by Hun. He was limping but he was edging away, people on the street staring.

"Let him go," Leonardo commanded. "We have to leave. Donnie, is there a way to cover our tracks?"

"This place is gas heated," Donatello said. "A well-placed explosive and this place is so much dust and rubble."

"Do it," Leonardo said. "We'll meet you at the sewer entrance, Amber should be there waiting."

"See ya there," Donatello said, turning and running back through the opening they'd made.

"I'll help." Michaelangelo said in a somber voice. He quickly turned and followed, the rest of the group doing the same. They were soon marching down the stairwell and using the back entrance of the building, stepped out into the sunlight. Casey went first and seeing that there were few people out, though the few were staring, he lifted the sewer grate and signaled the others who quickly ran and climbed down. They were standing at the bottom, talking to Amber who was very curious as to what the turtles were, when Donatello and Michaelangelo came climbing down.

"Well, that should-" Donatello started to say when there was a huge explosion from above followed by a terrible rumbling and shaking in the tunnels. Once things had settled he finished, "take care of it."

* * *

A month had passed since the defeat of Valborga. The turtles had made a home out of the tunnel and Donatello had managed to build a couple of tables and they had brought their old couch and Splinter`s chair in, finishing the move. Thanks to Casey and April Amber had been taken to a shelter where she would be able to get help and recover from her forced addiction. The death of Kate had affected Leonardo terribly, placing all the blame upon himself, but everyone had shared the blame and told him this, several times. It had taken a lot of nights work but White Nirvana had vanished from the streets. At last things were calm and life a little simpler, though the investigation into the explosion had brought men into the sewers. In time, things would cool off and though no one would ever know, the city was safe, at least for now, thanks to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

* * *

An dso that's it...really. I have to admit that I'm not happy with what I produced in this story. I wrote the prologue and without any planning wrote each chapter as I got to it. I literally just sat down, typed, and went with the flow. That isn't a good way to write and I think it shows. That said, I plan to do another Turtles story sometime and will actually plot it out before hitting the computer. I hope some enjoyment has been had with this story at least but I'm not holding my breath.

I know the fight with Valborga was short and felt I should explain. Every martial arts film or action movie always ends with the hero/heroes fighting a villain they can't hardly beat in a long, drawn out fight so I chose to go a different route and have it end quick. I just wanted to do something different.

All that said, I hope you enjoyed if you're reading this and please, gimme one more chance. The next one will definitely be thought out, though it may be a while as I am working on another story and would like to finish it while plotting the next TMNT. Have a wonderful day and thanks for reading.


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